Fallout: A New Definition of Misery
by TheGamerGod333
Summary: The year is 2208... in West Virginia the countryside is a wasteland... you see a lit up mansion near. You think you hear screams coming from the mansion. But you decide you're hearing things and decide to go to it. Not for those with a faint heart.Rated M
1. Day 0: The Mouse Trap

**Prologue: The Mouse Trap**

_Today... in 2208... a single mansion sits in the state of West Virginia... travelers passed by and walked to the mansion to see if they could rest, or trade..._

_They were never heard from again..._

_West Virginia was never bombed... because it was such a rural area... but travelers still pass through there._

_The mansion was in the middle of nowhere... and it was owned, by a single man and his brother..._

_They got joy out of other people's pain... this is their story... and mine...

* * *

_A lone traveler, walked up the path that led to a large sized mansion on the hill. There was a forest behind the mansion.

It was a dark night, there weren't even that many stars in the sky... just darkness.

There was one light on in the mansion, as the traveler could see it glow from where he was standing.

He saw a figure through the window, and it was as if he was looking at him.

The traveler looked back at the window when he realized someone was looking at him, and the light was off.

The traveler got his pistol out and loaded it just in case.

He had a bad feeling about the mansion, but he had been traveling for a whole day, and he needed to rest. Maybe he was just seeing things.

He continued to walk up the the path to the mansion, still having his gun out.

He made it to the porch, he looked around.

The porch, like the mansion looked very, very old.

The whole porch was covered in dust, like if nobody had ever stepped on the porch for a hundred years or more.

He began to walk up the porch's stairs, and he was shocked when he heard the creaking of the stairs under him.

He walked towards the door, and he saw that there was a ding bell.

He pushed the button to ring the bell, but instead of hearing the bell ring, the wooden boards he was standing on disappeared like a trap door, and he fell down it.

He was in a dug hole. It was deep enough where he couldn't climb out of it.

The hole was dark, and he stumbled around, but then he looked to his feet, to see a lighter placed on the ground.

He reached down and grabbed the lighter, his hands shaking, as this was the most scared he had been in his whole life. He had touched the dirt that he was standing on, and he noticed that it was wet with something...

Whatever it was wet with, it stunk...

He stood back up, now that he had the lighter.

He turned the lighter on, and the hole was illuminated by the flame's light.

He immediately dropped the lighter when he saw the three skeletons that were in the hole with him.

But unfortunately, when the lit lighter hit the ground, the whole pit was set ablaze.

The dirt was wet, because the owner of the mansion had poured a can of gasoline into the pit. He had made a perfect trap, for whoever was stupid enough to try to enter the front door.

The traveler screamed at the top of his lungs as he burned alive.

There was a tall, large man above looking down into the pit and laughing.

The pit was deep enough, where the flames would have no chance of spreading out of the pit and onto the mansion.

The man closed the trap door and laughed as he still heard the screams of the man burning alive.

He clawed at the dirt around him trying to climb up but he couldn't do it, and he ended up falling back down.

He screamed one last time, and he died, burning alive...

* * *

Another traveler was walking through the forest.

He was heading towards the northeast. He was planning on going to the Capital Wasteland.

He saw the mansion past the forest.

He walked to the back of the mansion, and saw the entrance to a cellar outside.

He checked if the door was locked, and strangely... it wasn't.

The traveler got out his rifle and proceeded carefully. He was wanting to scavenge whatever he could find here, but he had a bad feeling about the mansion.

He opened the cellar door and looked inside of it.

It was completely dark, and he smelled a foul smell coming from the cellar.

He walked down the steps into the dark cellar, hearing the creaking of the steps.

He stumbled around in the dark trying to find a light.

When he found the switch of a lamp, he pushed it's button to turn on the light.

Suddenly, the dark cellar was illuminated by the light of the lamp.

The traveler screamed when the light came on, because the whole cellar was filled with dead bodies.

Hanging on hooks, chained to the wall, everywhere.

He fell onto the floor because he tried to run as fast as he could out of the cellar, but tripped due to his fear.

His rifle slid towards the wall that was in front of him.

He looked to the wall, and he was scared out of his mind when he saw what it said on the wall.

There was a sign on the wall that said "You've come too far" written in blood.

The door to the right of the sign swung open and a man in bloody metal with a mask stepped into the cellar.

He had chains wrapped around his arms, and he had a cleaver in his hands, and was laughing.

The traveler immediately turned around and crawled up the stairs to try to get out of the cellar for dear life but right when he was almost outside of the cellar, the cellar door slammed shut by something outside shutting it.

He screamed as loud as he could when he was dragged back down into the cellar from the top of the stairs.

He clawed at the stairs desperately trying to get a hold, but he couldn't find one.

The masked and armored man was laughing at the traveler's attempts to break free of his grip.

One by one, he was dragging down the stairs, still struggling.

The man unwrapped one of the chain around his arms and he smacked the traveler with it.

He screamed as the chains whipped his body.

The traveler desperately crawled for the rifle that was still on the ground.

He grabbed it, but just then his hand was stepped on by someone else.

The man screamed as the steel toe boot was put on his hand holding the handle of the rifle.

He looked up and he saw a brown haired man that looked less demented than the masked one.

He smiled at the traveler, reached down and grabbed the rifle, then hit the traveler with it.

The rifle had hit the traveler in the head hard, causing him to be knocked out.

The last thing the traveler saw before he passed out was the brown haired man standing beside the masked one... smiling.

_"Ahahaha..."_

* * *

_My name is Hank... and I am that traveler..._

_**End of Prologue: The Mouse Trap

* * *

**_

**A fallout horror. It will indeed be interesting. Also, this story is not for the faint of heart. It's only gonna get worse from here. If you felt a sickness in your stomach while reading the prologue... well, maybe that's a sign you shouldn't be reading this story.**

**Adios.**

**~TGG333**


	2. Day 1: Pain Is What You Think is Painful

_Day 1: Pain Is Only What You Think is Painful_  
"Where... where the fuck am I...?" Hank asked, his eyes opening. He tried to move, but he was restrained from moving. He looked around, the walls were made of stone and covered in blood, and bodies.

The bodies were chained to the wall, and some of them were hanging from the ceiling, drenched in blood. The lamp was still on in the cellar.

He looked to the right and saw the message he had seen before, and the door that was to the right of the message. He saw flies buzzing around the bodies in The Cellar...

The fresh, newer bodies only had flies hovering around them. The older more, rotted bodies had maggots crawling on them.

The smell of the bodies was horrifying, and made Hank gag for a while until he eventually got used to the scent. He looked to the right and left of him. He saw that his arms were chained to the wall. He looked down and he saw that his legs and body were chained to the wall also.

Just then he heard a terrifying scream from the upstairs. It wasn't of fear or terror, it was of pure agony and pain.

The scream sounded if the person was dragged down the fiery stairs of hell and he hit every step on the way, and someone walked along the side of him and stuck a knife in his ribs every step.

"I've... I have to get out of here..." Hank said.

He looked to the left of him in the corner. It was the table with the lamp on it. It also had several keys on the table, and a few rolls of duct tape.

He also saw a crowbar on the table.

He couldn't do anything. So he just stayed there on the wall, waiting an eternity in the body littered cellar. Every few minutes he heard another scream of agony... there was no silence in this place, ever.

Then something broke him out of his daze. He heard the creaking of the stairs that he had walked down to reach this horrible place.

Another man, in a merchant's suit walked into the cellar.

"Mother of God... what the hell..." The Travelling Merchant said, looking around the Cellar.

"Over here... please... get the key on the table... hurry... he'll come down soon..." Hank cried. He was a strong person, but this was one of those situations where you couldn't do jack shit in, and needed someone else's help.

The Merchant walked towards the table, but screamed when he had stepped close to the table.

Someone had placed a bear trap right in front of the table, and due to the Merchant's eagerness, he didn't see the bear trap, and in fact Hank didn't even notice the bear trap until it was too late.

"ARRRRGH! FUCKING CHRIST... my leg..." The Merchant screamed at the top of his lungs.

"Shhh... he'll hear you..." Hank said, desperately trying to get the in pain Merchant to stop screaming.

"WHO THE FUCK IS HE? AND YOU TRY NOT FUCKING SCREAMING WHEN STUCK IN A GOD DAMN BEAR TRAP..." The Merchant screamed further.

Upstairs...  
"I hear a noise... brother, go downstairs and take care of it... the meat can wait a second."

The large masked man in the kitchen who was chopping large chunks of bloody red meat, slammed the cleaver into the chunk of flesh on the cutting board, then grabbed his chains and his metal hook that was laying on the table.

He walked through the hallway, and opened the door that led downstairs to the cellar.

The stairs were made of metal, and they were covered in blood. The masked man made the door into the cellar swing open.

He looked around in the cellar, and saw the Traveling Merchant, who had stepped in the bear trap. He was holding onto the chain that had a hook attached to it. The hook was sharp and jagged, and made of steel.

He walked past Hank, who was still chained on the wall, being forced to witness the horror going on right before his eyes.

He pulled up the chain from his arm until he felt that he had the hook in his hands. He grabbed the Traveling Merchant who was trapped in the bear trap, and he stuck the hook into the Merchant's mouth forcefully, and he stuck it through his cheek, like a fish.

He bent down and took the bear trap off of the Traveling Merchant's leg. He dragged the Merchant, using the chain to move the Merchant like a puppet, to in front of Hank.

The Merchant was still screaming, but it was now muffled due to the covered in blood hook. The masked man began to unwrap the chains that was wrapped around his right arm which was attached to the hook that had pierced the Merchant's face.

"Please... don't... he's already in enough pain for the love of God!" Hank screamed, being forced to witness it.

The masked man laughed and then he wrapped the chain around the Merchant's neck. Hank looked at the man's bare right arm while he was doing it, and it appeared that he was badly cut due to the chains being around his arm for so long.

The masked man lifted the chain up into the air, taking the traveler with it, due to the hook. The traveler's feet were now completely off the ground.

"FOR THE LOVE OF GOD! LET HIM THE FUCK GO!" Hank screamed at the top of his lungs. Hank struggled on the wall, trying to break free from the chains.

The Merchant was clawing at the chains that were wrapped around his neck, trying to break free. His hands eventually dropped to his sides, and he had breathed his last breath.

"GOD DAMN IT... IF YOU'RE GONNA KILL ME, THEN FUCKING DO IT ALREADY" Hank screamed.

The masked man shook his head at Hank. The man dropped the dead Merchant, who was the only person who had tried to help Hank to get out of his hell. The Merchant's bloody body fell onto the already bloody ground.

The masked man walked over to the table, still holding the chain, which made the Merchant's lifeless husk follow him, by being dragged around the room.

The masked man rearmed the bear trap and placed it where it once was. He then grabbed a roll of duct tape from the table, he also grabbed the crowbar in case if Hank somehow got free, so he wouldn't have a weapon.

He also took the keys, knowing that if anyone else would walk in, they'd immediately try to help Hank, like how the Merchant did.

He walked up the stairs that the Merchant had descended, and shut the cellar doors, and locked them. He then walked back down the stairs over the Merchant's body, which he had dragged up the stairs with him.

He walked to where Hank was, and he hit Hank in the stomach with the crowbar. He didn't want to kill Hank. He just wanted to torment him, over and over again. He then took a piece of tape from the roll of duct tape, and he placed it over Hank's mouth, so he couldn't scream or say anything to another traveler who might enter the Cellar again.

The masked man walked back up the stairs to the main part of the mansion dragging the corpse with him. He slammed the door, and Hank could hear the sound of it being locked.

He looked down depressingly.

_This is going to be a long fucking day._ Hank thought. Hank tried to go to sleep, but he couldn't. All he wanted to do was to get away from this place... even if it was through his dreams.

But everytime he was close to sleeping, he heard someone upstairs in agony, screaming... eventually he slipped into the calm feel of sleep...

This was truly, _Misery._

_End of Day 1__ Pain Is Only What You Think is Painful

* * *

_

**Because I'm doing this story by days instead of "chapters" it will be shorter than some of my other stories. Like ANDoH. A New Definition of Hell. You should read that one if you haven't read it. But ANDoM is basically a spin-off.**

**Adios.**

_**~TGG333**_


	3. Day 2, Part I: Tonight, We Dine In Hell

_Day 2: Tonight, We Dine In Hell_

Hank's eyes slowly opened, he was hoping that he would have died in his sleep, or that it was all just a horrible nightmare that he could wake up from.

He shook his head disappointed when he woke up and saw the same cellar that he had fell asleep in, hanging on the blood soaked wall.

Just then he once again heard the sounds of the wooden stairs creaking. Somebody from upstairs was coming down.

But then, he heard even more creaking that went along with the original creaking. He stared at the door. What did that masked man have planned now?

He was completely paralyzed with fear. There was another one, another person who was causing the agony to continue. He didn't even want to think about what was above.

He stared at the door. He was hoping that they'd go back upstairs. He didn't want them to come down here and possibly put him in more pain.

Just then the door suddenly swung open, and the same man with the mask and armor walked through it, but this time... there was somebody behind him. The person behind him was a man, and he was wearing a business suit, but it was armored. His suit looked as if it was covered in someone's blood.

"So... this is ninety four... heh..." The man in the blood covered suit said.

"..." The man with the mask said nothing.

At the worst time, Hank's stomach growled, which got their attention.

"Are you hungry Ninety Four? Cain... I thought I told you to feed him earlier." The man in the suit said.

"..." The man with the mask still said nothing.

"Oh... we probably haven't had the pleasure of meeting yet Ninety Four... my name... is Victor. My brother over there... his name is Cain... you may have had a name before you came to our little paradise... but it has no meaning here... you are just a number. Another person to fall, another body to cleave, another urn, get me?" Victor said. When Hank didn't respond, Victor realized that his mouth was still covered up by Cain's duct tape.

"Why... why are you doing this?" Hank asked. Hank noticed something on Victor's arm. The number "5" was tattooed on his arm.

"We do this...for our own protection." Victor said.

"What...? All I wanted was a place to rest... a place to sleep... that's probably what everyone here just wanted..." Hank said.

"Right... all of you are no good dirty THIEVES. People see a mansion, and the first thing they think is what can they "scavenge" or, steal from it... Cain and I know about this... that's why I do this... that's why everyone who steps on my fucking lawn will fucking pay..." Victor yelled.

"...What is that number on your arm...?" Hank asked.

"Heh... that's for me to know... and for you not to find out." Victor said, pulling down his shirt sleeve, covering the number. "Now... Cain, will you show our guest, to his dinner?" Victor asked.

Cain was holding something in his hands. It was a plate that was covered by another plate. He lifted the top of the covering of the plate, and Hank saw that there was meat on the plate. It smelled...cooked, too...

He grabbed a hold of a stool table that he had also brought down. He put it in the middle of the cellar, and put the plate that was covered in meat on the table. He also put a bottle of wine right next to the plate of food.

"What...and you expect me to eat this, what if it's poison?" Hank said.

"No. If you want to...you can. But eventually...your will, to survive. Will kick in, and you will eat. You, are just another link in the chain. A broken link...gets recycled." Victor said. Victor stepped closer towards Hank, and Hank suddenly spit in Victor's face.

Victor stopped, and wiped his face off. "You obviously don't realize, that there is no escape from here...even in death...you will still remember your stay at the Vault 59 Mansion...The Soul, of West Virginia." Victor said.

Victor looked at Cain, who was anxiously waiting for Victor's orders.

"Cain...let's leave the food here...I was going to have you let our friend ninety four come down and eat his dinner...but no...his, spit...his insult...was his way of saying no. Let us go back to the first floor...we will wait until this trash cries and whines for food...then, he will eat it spoiled." Victor said, angrily.

Victor and Cain walked up the stairs, and left Hank alone. He stared at the plate of food on the stool with the wine. He was so hungry...and so thirsty...he hadn't ate or drank anything in two days...in fact, he came to the mansion because he was looking for food or water. But he got caught in the trap...just like everyone else who tried to stop there for assistance.

Time ticked, and it felt like an eternity to Hank, as he kept staring at the plate of meat...his stomach growled every few seconds. But he was chained to the wall...there was no way he could get to the meat without swallowing his dignity, his pride, and yelling for them to come back down. He doubted he'd even have the strength to yell over all the screams of pain and agony to get their attention to begin with, but there was also the possibility of them just laughing at him, and not giving him the food.

He had little choice though. He began to yell for Victor, and they ended up coming back down. Cain unlocked the chains that restricted Hank, and he fell to the ground. Then suddenly, Cain slid something over Hank's head and down his neck, and both Victor and Cain fled back upstairs, before he got up.

Hank reached for his neck, and felt metal. A collar...

"You try to leave this place...then your head goes boom...disobey, you get shocked with volts of electricity. If you harm me, or any of us, then, your head will also go boom, but you will be shocked by an even stronger volt before you are blown to hell. Have a nice day..." Victor said, through the door.

Hank got up from the blood covered floor. He walked towards the stool, that had the food on it. He poked at it, inspecting the piece of meat, before even considering on eating it. He only took a small sip out of the wine...it was red wine...the glass bottle was green and see through...he could tell that it was an old bottle. He put it on the wooden stool, and put his attention towards the piece of meat again.

He ripped a small piece of it from the large section of it. He slowly, and unsurely put the piece of meat to his lips, and tossed it into his mouth. He began to chew the piece of meat, again, and again. The meat was actually...good. Or...it could taste like shit, but still taste good due to Hank's immense hunger. He swallowed the piece of meat, savoring the flavor. He grabbed another piece of it, and lifted it to his mouth, and did the same.

After the third or fourth, or fifth piece, the chunk of meat had shrunk from it's original size. Hank wasn't used to getting a warm, cooked, fresh, meal...sure, he wouldn't trade his freedom for one good cooked piece of meat but...to keep alive mentally and emotionally in a harsh environment, one must stay positive and enjoy the little things. When he grabbed for another piece, he almost screamed when he saw what he had grabbed. Hank dropped it onto the plate, and ran away from it, feeling the urge to vomit.

A eyeball, rolled back and forth on the plate, and the area of the plate that the huge chunk of meat had once covered had a message wrote on it in black marker.

"We are watching you."

The eyeball was right on the "o" of the "you" in the message, facing upwards, the eye was looking towards the ceiling. Sounds of vomit could be heard far from the cellar...

_Day Two..._

_**To be continued...

* * *

**_

**Pretty sickening chapter, eh? It's been a while since I updated this, so I figured, why not? Think was sadistic? You haven't seen anything yet.**

**Adios mi amigos.**

_**~TGG333**_


	4. Day 2 Part II: Sorry You're Here To Stay

_Day 2: Sorry, You're Here To Stay._

"Argh...I still have the taste of it in my mouth...argh." Hank cried, looking at the plate still covered with the meat, on the wooden stool. Hank walked back to the wall he had been chained to, and simply sunk to the floor and sat against the wall.

He...had probably just tasted human flesh. Hank simply stared at the wall. Him being kept in the cellar was probably a tactic to drive him insane. Isolation...the feeling of being trapped and the fact that you knew you couldn't do a thing, could drive anyone insane. He felt the feeling as if he was cut off from everyone...everything else in this dark...cold...place. The only thing he heard from above, was screaming and cries for help.

He sat against the wall for what seemed like hours. Cain, the large one, actually came down for a moment to check if Hank had eaten the entire meal. But when he saw that there was a remainder of it still lying on the plate, Hank could see rage in Cain's eyes. Cain reached for his mask and slightly pushed it upwards.

The movement of the mask only revealed Cain's chin and mouth. His mouth and chin were covered with scars, burns, scratches, dirt, and his whole face was blood red...it wasn't his skin tone at all...

He had covered his whole face in blood, and never washed it off. Hank didn't dare to think about what the rest of Cain's face would look like.

Cain suddenly grabbed the piece of meat, leaving the eyeball on the plate, and he began to gnaw on the hunk of meat.

Hank almost vomited again as he watched as Cain devoured the meat happily, but he had already thrown up everything that was in his system. When Cain finished the hunk of meat, he reached for the eyeball on the plate, and grabbed it.

Hank, in horror, watched as Cain threw the eyeball up into the air, and as it landed into his mouth...Hank gagged as he watched Cain close his mouth and begin to chew...

Cain reached for his mask again, and pulled it back down to it's original state, covering his mouth and his chin. Cain then grabbed the plate, and walked towards the stairs, and returned to the first floor, closing the door behind him.

Hank waited a minute, and got up, and walked up the stairs and towards the door. He inspected the door closely...he hadn't been this close to it yet...he noticed as if the lock of the door was jammed...to prevent lock picking perhaps. He tried to open the door, but it felt as if the door was blocked by big. He then noticed the door was covered in blood, and scratch marks.

Hank walked down the stairs and sat back down in his spot. He looked around the Cellar...was there lesser bodies now? They probably dragged them upstairs for...meal preparation...

He looked away from the ceiling, and downwards towards the wooden stool, and at it's legs. An idea had popped up into Hank's mind. He further inspected the stool. It looked pretty old and fragile.

Hank got up, grabbed the stool, and broke one of it's wooden legs off. He felt the wooden leg, it was pretty solid...but where it connected to the rest of the stool, was weak. It would be a good weapon for the time being...

Hank began to put force on the leg, using all of the strength he could muster up and he broke the leg off of the stool. However, the stool now only had three legs, making it unstable. The stool fell over onto the ground as soon as Hank tried to put it down. He heard the sound of someone coming down the stairs. He quickly hid the wooden leg behind him, making sure that they wouldn't be able to see it. However...with the dismantled stool, they would most likely discover what he had done.

He saw Cain again, but this time...with Victor, the thinner, and less insane looking one, who actually talked. They both walked in front of Hank.

"I hear that you didn't finish Cain's meal...unfortunate. Those who do not do everything they can for their own survival, usually don't survive long here." Victor laughed.

Victor came to the broken stool. Cain had his head turned away from Hank, and at the broken stool. Hank knew that this was the only shot he had. He sprung up and swung towards Victor's head, hoping to bash it in.

However, a huge hand suddenly was wrapped around Hank's arm before the wood had even made contact. With ease, Hank was thrown through the air and against the wall that still beared the same blood message that Hank had read when he first walked into the cellar.

Before Hank even fell onto the ground, Cain had grabbed ahold of his neck, and held him against the wall. Cain's masked face was close enough to Hank's face, he could even smell Cain's rotten and putrid breath.

"Hmph...Cain...drop him." Victor commanded. Cain did the opposite, and his grip tightened. It tightened just enough to make Hank suddenly reach and claw at Cain's hand while dropping the wooden stool leg, trying to get him to let go. Each and every second he gasped for air, the more tired he became. Cain used his free hand to grab the wooden stool leg that Hank had dropped.

"CAIN. OBEY. Drop him...NOW." Victor said, his voice becoming louder. Cain loosened his grip, and Hank slid out of his hand and fell to the floor gasping for air. Cain simply stared down at Hank, and then out of nowhere, he cracked his neck, inspiring fear in Hank...

Victor made Cain back away from Hank, Victor got closer to Hank, and leaned down to his level.

"Do you think, that we are idiots? Do you think, we would leave the stool without a second thought? Or...did you even think if there was a reason why we let you stay unchained? Some people we just chain, and use the food to taunt them...you...I thought you were special...but you're acting like the rest of them. Willing to take the first chance for freedom...the brain begins to work less in a time of danger, as you have less time to think. So you take acts of desperation...unfortunate...I thought you would be the first one to be calm-headed enough...just enough. But now...you've changed your thinking patterns, because you know that some unthoughtful plan like that will never work here. As...I'm literally crouching down, and right next to you...but you don't try anything...is it because your afraid? Gasping for air because of Cain's strength? Or because you know...if you try anything, Cain will pull out his blade...and I will have to get another to replace you." Victor calmly said.

Victor looked away from Hank, who was simply watching him, and towards Cain. He nodded his head slightly, and got up and walked away from Hank. "However, we still have to punish your disobedience...even if it did make me chuckle for a second, at you thinking you'd be able to escape on your second day here." Victor said walking away from Hank.

Cain walked towards Hank who was laying on the ground still watching them. He held the wooden stool leg in his hands, and Hank already saw what was going to happen.

Cain swung the wooden stool leg around in his hand, and had ahold of the lighter side of the leg. He swung the heavier side of the wooden stool leg down towards Hank's side. Hank screamed and shook in pain because of it, but the assault didn't stop there.

Cain drove the wooden stool leg into Hank's side and stomach repeatedly, until Cain gave him some sort of a signal. Cain suddenly walked towards Hank's legs, and even though he had a mask over his face...Hank somehow knew that Cain was smiling with contempt behind that damn mask...the mask that he would see in nightmares...wait...no...he was in the nightmare right now.

Cain spun the wooden stool leg playfully, almost as if he was mocking Hank in his own way. When the stool leg stopped spinning, he stood still for a moment. Hank knew what was going to happen...there was no point in resisting...but the real agony...was waiting for something you knew that you couldn't prevent to happen. You simply stayed there, guessing when it would happen.

Unfortunately, it happened faster than Hank wanted.

Cain drove the wooden stool leg down and hit Hank's left leg with all his might. The sound was agonizing, put the pain...it was about fifty times worse. Hank's leg had a spasm due to the pain, and he couldn't keep it still even if it hurt so much to move it. He couldn't stop screaming due to the pain.

Cain, almost satisfied with his performance, wanted to put a finishing touch to it. He walked over to Cain's upper half, and he swung the wooden stool leg into his face. Not hard enough to kill him, but just enough to make it hurt and to leave a mark.

"That's enough...good job Cain...you've made your brother...satisfied." Victor laughed. Victor suddenly grabbed something out of his pocket and went behind Hank.

Suddenly, Hank felt something be slipped around his neck, then he heard a click and a beep.

Hank with curiosity, looked down and saw a collar with a red light shining from it. The number 94 was wrote on a label that was stuck to the collar. He knew what the collar was instantly.

"No...NOT FUCKING AGAIN. WHY THE FUCK ARE YOU DOING THIS?" Hank yelled, angrily, as if the collar made him angrier than the beating he had just endured. Victor simply laughed.

"Come, Cain...we have others to deal with..." Victor said. Walking with Cain...his apparent brother, towards the stairs, but when he reached them, he stopped.

"Oh...and Hank? Was it? Before...well, if you ask how we know your name...that is not important. But...your name...means nothing here. You...are just a number...ninety four...if you haven't found out what that number means by now...I suppose, you haven't been paying much attention to your surroundings. And uh...you are, as I said before...special. Normally, I would just leave the cellar dwellers down here...crying, who was doing this...why were they doing this...it amuses me, it does...but for the time being...the cellar is yours. Yours alone. And as for your question...we are doing this, to take away everything from you...until you are like that hunk of meat you tore into with your teeth...empty, lifeless, rotten...I guarantee you. You won't be able to leave this place. Either because of our constraints, or because of yourself." Victor laughed, and headed up the stairs, following Cain.

Suddenly, when Hank saw that they were both gone and up the stairs, he heard a loud sound as if they were moving something...they must have blocked the door again with whatever it had been blocked with.

What Victor had said puzzled Hank. How would he not leave this place because of himself?

In fact, he wouldn't have even stepped near the fucking mansion if he could do it over again. But...he had a feeling...that what he was searching for, was near. Hell...it might even be in the mansion...but his first concern, was escaping. But for the moment...he couldn't do a thing. They knew it too...they probably got fed off on it...his desperation. His hopelessness. His fear.

His doubts about him being strong enough to survive. He tried to go to sleep...escape from this place once again...try to escape from the pain.

What would happen? Have a nightmare that was worse than his current one?

_Day 2: Sorry, You're Here To Stay.

* * *

_

**Been a while since I updated this...been busy working on ANDoH's finale...hope that anyone who's read any of my stories know what that is by now...if not...check my profile's stories. Look for the story that fits the abbreviation of ANDoH. But ahem...what will day 3 bring? Or will something else happen?**

**We shall see...and...while your waiting, you could review this story...just a thought...you don't...have to or anything...just a suggestion.**

**Adios. ~TGG333**


	5. Day 3: A Worse Nightmare

**Day 3: A Nightmare Worse Than The Current One**

Hank's eyes widened and opened when he was abruptly awakened by screams, and the sounds of fire. Pitch black darkness surrounded him, but the glow of the flames provided some light. There were blood covered bodies laying around him, and dead pack brahmin that looked like they were ripped apart. He jumped up, and searched the in ruins campsite desperately. He suddenly heard a scream come from up ahead.

He began to run as fast he could and eventually he could see a large figure in the darkness, and it was pulling something from behind him. Hank desperately chased them, but the figure was fast, and he must have knew he was being chased, as he often changed paths. But eventually, Hank grew tired, and couldn't chase him anymore.

He was considering on giving up, but he heard another scream, and he continued to run after them. Suddenly, his vision became blurry, and everything around him changed right in front of his eyes.

* * *

It was daylight now. Hank was walking besides the pack brahmin and caravan guards. He was holding hands with a small six year old girl who had brown hair down to her shoulders. Her other hand was wrapped around a small teddy bear's left arm, tightly, as if she didn't ever want to let go.

"Daddy?" The little girl said, trying to get Hank's attention, by pulling on his shirt.

"Yes, Emily?" Hank said.

"Why did we have to leave our home?" Emily asked.

"It wasn't safe there anymore, Em...those big bad monsters busted in, remember?" Hank said.

"I hate those monsters...meanies..." Emily said.

"They are pretty mean." Hank laughed...faking it, to make his daughter feel better.

They continued walking, and there was a period of silence until Emily broke it.

"Where did mommy go?" Emily asked. The caravan suddenly stopped at the same time as she asked the question.

"Hey, Hank. We're taking a break...there's something blocking the road up ahead, and we gotta clear it before we can go further." One of the armed guards said, holding a pair of binoculars.

"...Mommy, went to the place I told you about after those monsters showed up, remember?" Hank said, getting down to Emily's level after the guard walked back.

"Pa...pa...para..." Emily stuttered, trying to pronounce the word.

"Paradise. Where there are no monsters, bad people, or sadness." Hank said.

"But why couldn't we go with mommy?" Emily asked.

"Well...everyone who is nice, like us, have their own time when they have to go to paradise. It was mommy's time...we'll one day go there and find her." Hank said.

"Do you promise?" Emily asked.

"Trust me, we will." Hank said. The armed caravan guard came back and looked frightened. "What's wrong?" Hank asked.

"...There's two eviscerated brahmin down there. That was what was blocking the road. We moved it off the road, but...it didn't look like it was done by a dea..." The armed guard stopped himself and reminded himself that Emily was present. "...A monster. Plus, usually the monsters eat some of the mess. This...looks like it was done for fun." The armed caravan guard said, terrified.

Hank shrugged it off. "Come on." Hank said.

They resumed walking with the caravan, and it's brahmin. He had a very bad feeling about all this, but what was he going to do? Head back and hope those damn deathclaws had enough?

* * *

Hank was now surrounded by screaming and mayhem. Hank ran through the town, while carrying Emily, while holding a shotgun in his free hand. He fired at the invading deathclaws when they got too close to himself and his daughter. He was looking for his wife...he felt bad for the rest who were fleeing and dying, but he had to watch out for his own family first. He quickly ran into the town store, and then blocked the door with a cabinet after setting Emily down. Suddenly Hank heard a voice full of sorrow.

"Hank...is that you?"

Hank turned around and saw a woman sitting next to the stairs. There was a bloody claw mark on her shirt.

"Emily...don't look and cover your ears." Hank said, not wanting Emily to see her mother or hear her in such a state. Her breaking down would only further wound Hank's morale. He walked towards his wife, and got down to her level.

"Kim...I'm so sorry. I didn't make it in time..." Hank said, sorrowfully.

"It's okay...I don't blame you. Here...give this to Emily. Please...protect her...our daughter. No matter what. She's the only thing that both of us have now..." Kim said, putting her necklace in Hank's left hand. He closed his hand, gripping the necklace, trying to resist the urge to cry. Hank hugged Kim one last time, and picked up Emily. "Keep your eyes closed, until I tell you to open them, okay, Em?" Hank said.

"Okay, daddy." Emily said. Hank ran up the stairs to the second floor, and up the ladder that led onto the roof. He looked down and saw the town for what he assumed to be the last time. He saw the walls that circled the town, usually protecting it, but tonight some idiot fucking left the back gate open and the deathclaws took advantage of their mistake. The buildings were being swarmed by deathclaws and panicking citizens. The open center of the town was the spot that there was the most gore. See, the town was in Fort Morgan. Encircled by walls, and the only two exits were the back and front gate. The front gate, for whatever reason was locked shut. Meaning the only way he could escape with his daughter was the ladder at the front wall. As it was already over, the deathclaws had claimed the town. There was no coming back to...this.

Hank looked to the edge of the roof. There was a gap between the town's wall and the roof. He was sure that he could jump with his daughter and make it to the wall safely. Suddenly, he turned his attention back to the town, as there was another group of deathclaws that were entering the town. There was a significantly larger and darker deathclaw in the middle of them. Suddenly Emily opened up her eyes and saw it. Hank had seen this, so he instinctively reaches to try to cover her mouth, but he was too slow. She screamed, the deathclaws turned their attention to them. The deathclaws ran for the store and tried to claw down the door. Hank hated deathclaws...it wasn't until a trader came into the town from DC, with a bunch of mysterious fucking eggs. Obviously those eggs are too big just to be normal, so the town turns down his offers. He gets pissed, and leaves them in a cave somewhere outside the town. They hatch, and the deathclaws that inhabit West Virginia were born.

"I told you to not look. Good thing that the monsters aren't that very smart." Hank said, relieved. But the relief went away when he saw the deathclaws sticking their claws into the wall of the store and climbing it. "Never...saw them do that before." Hank said, nervously.

He turned back towards the edge, ran for it, and leaped for the stone wall and prayed that he wouldn't miss the wall. He landed on the wall, safely with Emily still in his arms. Hank looked over the wall and saw a caravan, but one of the armed guards were taking down the ladder.

"WAIT! FUCKING PUT IT BACK!" Hank screamed. The armed guard looked up shocked.

"HOlY FUCK, a survivor?" The armed guard yelled, surprised. He put the ladder back up. Hank, who was still climbing Emily climbed down the ladder. The armed guard re-took down the ladder after they got down.

"We barely escaped...closed off this door before the deathclaws could get past...I mean, we kept the ladder up for those who could make it to the wall but...you two were the only ones who made it. Now we're taking off for the next town before those damned things make it past the fort. You can come if you want." The Leader of The Caravan said. "It was an immoral thing to do, I know, but if we tried to save everyone, then we, and you two would be dead." The Leader said.

"...We'll go with you. More safe...though I hope this caravan doesn't attract too much attention." Hank said.

* * *

Hank was back to running through the darkness, following the direction he had heard the scream. He stopped, as he saw something familiar on the ground.

An old, teddy bear.

He picked it up, looked at it for a second, and shed a single tear.

"Emily..." Hank cried.

He continued to run forwards, after putting it in his bag.

* * *

Hank shot up from the cellar's floor after waking up from his horrible dream of memories. Suddenly he heard the cellar's door fly open. Cain stomped down the stairs, dragging a blonde haired woman behind him.

"No! Please! I take it back! Please!" She screamed. Cain threw her across the room. Hank saw that Cain was holding a gas container and some matches in his other hand. Cain walked in front of the woman.

"You judge me...you ask why..." Cain growled. At first his voice was quiet, but then he began to scream.

"YOU WANT TO KNOW WHY, I DO THE THINGS THAT I DO? Well, the only way, that you can know, is by experiencing, them, YOURSELF." Cain screamed. Cain grabbed her by the hair, and pulled her up into the air. She screamed as loud as she could because of the pain, and with Cain's hand that wasn't holding her hair, he began to douse her in gasoline. He threw her into the corner of the cellar, the farthest one away from Hank. He lit a match, and flicked it towards her. The flames instantly covered her, the loud screaming went on and on for a minute, until her life burned away.

Cain then turned to Hank, who had been watching in horror. He didn't try to intervene, because he had no weapons, and because Cain could break Hank in half if Cain wanted to.

"You..." Cain stepped towards Hank.

Hank, crawled further away, knowing that the berserk Cain was now targeting him.

_**Day 3: A Nightmare Worse Than The Current One**_

* * *

**Been a while since I updated this...blah blah blah, practically the same author's note each and every story...then again, I updated all of them today. Though this chapter reveals a lot about Hank...and Cain talks for the first time in the story yet.**

**From now on, I'm going to be updating all of my stories in one burst. So all updates are going to be posted the same day. This is to make sure all stories begin to get the same amount of attention. As most of my side stories got pushed aside for the goliath that was ANDoH, but that is over now...at least part one.**

**Adios, and review if you feel up to it.**

**~TGG333**


	6. Thoughts I: The Will To Go On

**Thoughts: The Will To Go On**

The soul is a funny thing. Starts out pure, like a baby. Innocent, and pure for the time being. It begins to evolve, begins to change. The soul is like a fire, it can be used for good, just as easily as it can be made to burn to inflict harm or destroy. No human past the age of childhood is pure in any means.

They will lie to themselves and tell them that they are pure, but they are corrupt. All of them. Even I am.

Humanity, is what caused this day and age. Slaughtering, mayhem, chaos, pillaging, raping, and pure misery in the once grand country that was the US of A.

Even before the nukes, the "grand country" that was the US of A wasn't grand at all. They obviously couldn't be pure at all if they kept that type of weapon laying around. The nukes that they launched back at China wasn't in defense.

They said, "If we're going, then might as well take them out too."

Is that pure? Is that not corrupt?

It's funny to think that the most killing thing in this age isn't radiation, it isn't the mutated wild life, it isn't disease or starvation, and sure as hell isn't old age. It's humanity. We're killing ourselves when a more smarter race would be together and trying to undo the hell that our ancestors dropped on us when they started the war. Hell, they probably would have been smart enough to not have one to begin with. "Oh? A war when we destroy each other, which would just be total annihilation between the both of us? That doesn't sound like a good idea at all."

Honestly, I'm pretty sure a lot of those scientists in the pre-war era were simply thinking of new ways for us to kill each other instead of do some actual good. Humanity loves war, even though war and killing is literally killing humanity. I don't even know why I'm writing these thoughts down. It's just stating the obvious, over and over again.

Then again, doing this is probably the only thing that's keeping me sane. The people who are doing this...they are fucked up, indeed...but they were once children, babies, which I previously stated, are pure. Something, someone, must have corrupted them. Sometimes knowing why they were corrupted, can help you save them...but they, obviously, are so corrupt that they are past the point of being saved.

So I must do what always has to be done.

Use violence as a hypocritical act to stop them, but in all likelihood, some just like them would sprout in their places...like weeds. Cut some down, and more pop up.

The only thing that kept me going was a tiny flicker of hope...determination, to survive. Ironically, that's just human nature. Survival. But I had a reason for it...which made it much more stronger.

...Emily.

_**Thoughts: The Will To Go On**_

* * *

**Somewhat of a filler chapter, I know, but hey. All stories have some sort of filler in them...**

**And because of a mishap with my laptop, the chapters for my other stories were lost, except for this, and ANDoH's prequel. You should go read the new chapter for that as well...or, if you haven't read the Prequel, then you should start...and if you came here from the prequel thanks to yours truly's advertising skills, this is it...so...yeah. Going to try to recover the chapters, but the laptop might need to be rebooted, so those chapters might be lost entirely.**

**Unfortunate.  
**

**Adios, and review if you want to.**

**~TGG333**


	7. Day 65: A Bad First Impression

**Day 65: A Bad First Impression  
**

That day, when Cain approached me. It was nothing comparing it to what was further ahead. In the end, that day, Victor had stopped Cain before he used his rage against me. I had survived, thanks to him. Ironic...I get saved by one of the people who torment me, day and night. The nightmare of the cellar dragged on and on, and on. If this was a happy story, I would have escaped from it in a week...but this is a real story, not one that is a fantasy. Hell...escaping, IS my fantasy. I was locked in there for two months. I survived by drinking water that leaked down into the cellar. Sometimes I think that they poured the water through the leaks so I could survive...so I wouldn't die, so my misery would continue and grow. Unfortunately the leaks were only cracks, too small for any type of escape route. Though, thinking back on it now, they would never have put me there if there was a way to escape. For food, I ate rats, raw. Wasn't healthy...but is anything healthy in this day and age? Over two months later, they came back down, after leaving me in there, to rot. They were quite surprised that I had not went insane, attempted suicide, or starved or died due to thirst. I could see it in Victor's eyes. It was as if...he was disappointed, yet somehow, impressed. They're testing those who live...I mean, are stuck here. I didn't know why in the beginning. I didn't see the purpose of any of what they did. Even now, I feel anger towards them, towards what they did to me, and all of us. But there's a part of me...that understands it. Created by own misery, as how a spark among a cloud of gas can erupt in a flame. I don't know what I am anymore. But this is all, going to end, soon. But before I can reach the end, I must relive the past.

Over, and over again.

* * *

Day 65...  
Hank sat in his usual spot. Simply staring at the wall, like how he always does in this place. He had became significantly lighter than he already was. A diet of stagnant water and raw rat meat isn't good at all. He was feeling pretty sick after all the rat meat he had ate during his stay here...probably because the rats were carriers of irradiation, disease...and God knows what else. He had became paler, as well. That was because he had not been outside or even seen the sun for two months. If he would have ate Cain's meal two months ago, they probably would have even continued to give him meals...but he would not go down that road. He would rather die than become a cannibal. He would not let them taint him, and make him sin for his survival. He may have been at a terrible place, with the threat of death at any second, but he wouldn't abandon his religious beliefs. Of course, some sins had to be taken in this day and age. Hank had killed before, he's done other awful things, but he believes he has atoned for most of them. But in a way, Hank saw this as his punishment, even though he tried to repent what he did. He abandoned that part of his life, when he had met his wife, and became religious in the first place.

After so many days, he could feel that part of him resurfacing. Violent thoughts appeared in his head...he wanted to kill both Cain and Victor as gruesomely as possible. But that would simply be the "Eye for an Eye" technique. Would that truly be right? Justify misery with more misery? Hank wanted to not think about it, but that's all he could do in this place. Think, the same thoughts over and over again. The same questions his mind demands an answer for, but is ignored. Why are they doing this? How can I escape? Where's my daughter? Do these bastards have her? What the hell can I do? Have they forgotten about me down here, or are they just laughing upstairs at how I'm rotting in this dark hell? The questions go on and on, and the longer they don't have answers, the more frequent they are asked.

He's starting to even question the purpose of recording the time he's been locked in here. Every day, every night, it's the same thing. The only way he can a day has passed is by looking through a crack in the cellar door that led outside. If he saw light, then it was day. If he saw darkness, then it was night. But he tried not to look through it that often, as it makes him want to be outside even more, it brings back the memories before the cellar. While they are better, they make him hurt, as it reminds him he is stuck in here, when the world simply moves on and on. His daughter could be out there, and he couldn't even do anything but look at her through the crack of the door.

So now he simply sits, waiting for something to happen. Anything. He looked to the right of him where he had marked the passage of time. Sixty five lines he had scraped into the ground. How many lines would there be by the time he would escape this hell, he did not know. But to be fair, he would probably prefer being in the almost always safe cellar, than being up there where he hears all those screams coming from. Still...the same place he always criticized, the outside, didn't seem as bad now. In fact, if anything, the people are the ones who make it truly bad. Like the assholes upstairs, Cain and Victor...though, Cain seems as if he's being forced to do this. Or he doesn't enjoy it, or he's doing it because something similar happened to him. But, maybe even worse.

Suddenly, Victor and Cain came downstairs. It surprised Hank, as they hadn't been down here since that day. Plus, he was wrapped up in his thoughts, and didn't hear them coming down. Cain had a large black bag slumped over his shoulder. He had a hand on it, so it wouldn't fall.

"Oh...? You're still alive." Victor said.

"Did I disappoint you?" Hank asked.

"No...in fact, kind of amused. I see a flicker in your eyes, that I've seen in so many others." Victor said.

"Which is...?" Hank said.

"Hope, maybe. Hatred, no, I know that too well. Determination? Hahaha...how naive." Victor said, looking into Hank's eyes.

"No to all three. Apathy." Hank said.

"Hah, apathy. That's a lie. I can smell it all over you. You hate me, you hate Cain, you hate that you and several others are trapped here. Surely you've heard our guests from the upstairs? They all are a quite loud and rowdy bunch." Victor said.

"I do not care about you, your slave that you call your brother, or the others you keep here. As, I will escape. I will free myself, and if I'm lucky, decapitate you...and your brother if he tries to help you." Hank said.

"...You really want to go down this road? Many others have pulled the same type of act that you are now...the big tough mister I don't need anybody else act. Every one who's tried it, has died here...or, is still here." Victor laughed.

"I'm different." Hank said.

"Oh really? How are you different? What makes you so tough? What makes you able to survive this place? Our family survived the atomic fires of the Great War, and several other things." Victor said.

"Yes...I remember, you said something about a Vault two months ago when you first locked me here. Vault Fifty Nine...but you want to know what I think? I think your family was full of cowards, so they hid in the Vault to hide from the War itself!" Hank yelled.

"Oh Ninety Four...yet another moment you disappoint me. You're simply trying to make me angry. Such an old and overused tactic..." Victor said.

"God damn it, it's not Ninety Four, it's Hank, so quit calling me that, Five!" Hank said. He knew that on Victor's arm was a tattoo of the number five.

"YOU NEVER CALL ME THAT AGAIN. DO YOU UNDERSTAND?" Victor yelled, now enraged.

Cain simply stood there, still holding whatever he was in the large...body sized bag. It wasn't that hard to guess that it was a body.

"What's the matter Five? We both have numbers. I'm sure Cain likely has one too. What, do you not like being called your number, like how you've been calling me? FIVE." Hank taunted.

Victor brought down his right fist on Hank, striking him right in the face. Hank smiled.

"I thought it would have been harder. Oh Five...yet another moment you disappoint me." Hank said, imitating Victor. Again Victor brought down his fist across Hank's face. This time, Hank spit out some blood.

"Seems like psychological breakdowns run in your family, Five." Hank laughed.

Victor was about to hit Hank a third time, but Cain grabbed a hold of his shoulder with his one free hand, stopping him. Cain looked at Victor as if he was trying to point out something.

"You've distracted me long enough, Hank. We came down here for a purpose...that didn't include you. Though that was because I thought you had starved out by now...we wanted to take out our friend here..." Victor said, pointing at the bag that Cain had been holding this whole time.

"I knew it was a dead body. The food is from dead people, now you're carrying around dead people...what's next, dead people for entertainment? Singing dead people? Dancing?" Hank asked, rubbing the spots of his face where Victor had struck him.

"Ha. Funny. We didn't do this. He's got bite marks, claw marks, his neck is badly lacerated...if you don't know what that term is, it means cut. Though, I could just show you it, if you prefer that over the text definition." Victor said.

"I'm...fine. Trust me." Hank said, not wanting to see it. "So...if, you didn't do the ruthlessness, then who the hell did?" Hank asked.

"Oh...your soon to be neighbors. In the basement. They're...a bit...eccentric. Hah. Yes, that's the word." Victor laughed.

"This because I pissed you off?" Hank asked.

"Oh, no...this would have happened even if you would have picked the route of attempting to kiss my ass...I hate yes men. However, a person who is constantly defiant is no good either. It's all about finding...the right balance." Victor said.

"For what? Finding the right balance, for what?" Hank asked, his frustration growing.

"Oh...usually most don't catch that part. Quite perceptive of you...but anyway, it doesn't matter right now. We're going to take care of the trash first, and then we'll be moving you to your new quarters. Cain, would you like to do the pleasures?" Victor asked. Suddenly Cain kicked Hank's head, knocking him out due to the sheer force.

* * *

_"Daddy? Wake up...dad...wake up!"_

_Hank's eyes opened slowly. He saw his daughter standing over him, looking down at him._

_"Ergh...what happened?" Hank asked, slowly getting up._

_"A mean man came up from behind you when I was picking those plants you said we needed and knocked you down...I hid like you told me to whenever stuff like that happens..." Emily said._

_Hank looked around, and realized that his bag was missing._

_"Damn it...it seems no matter where we go, the same damn thing always happens...go back to town. I'll be back in a bit. If not...then stay with your mom." Hank said. He pulled his magnum out of his pocket. "Well, at least they didn't go through my pockets." Hank said. He waited until he saw his daughter go into the town, and then he began to walk through the area, looking for...hell, he didn't even know, but maybe whoever did it was still in the area. They couldn't have gotten that far._

_He came to a high hill that had one single almost withered away tree sitting there. There was a person standing next to it, and there was a familiar bag right next to his feet. Hank's bag. The man was wearing leather armor...but he had a helmet over his head, concealing his face, but he had his back turned to Hank so he couldn't see it anyways._

_There was five bullets still in Hank's magnum. He approached the person._

_"Ah. You've came for your bag I assume?" The person said before Hank had even stepped close to him._

_"Of course I have, it's mine." Hank said._

_"I am not the one who took it. I killed him easy...I don't care for bandits. Or thieves. Or raiders. Any and all of them need to die a horrible death. Speaking of which..." The man suddenly held up something. It was a book, and it looked familiar._

_"That's my...journal." Hank said._

_"Yes...funny, that. I read through it...it describes some of your...younger days." The man said._

_"I'm not like that anymore." Hank said._

_"Does it matter? From the sounds of it, you and your friends were quite...notorious and vicious. Giving that up, making a family, finding religion, settling in a town...does that really make up for all of the things you did?" The man asked._

_"...No. I know it doesn't, but I stopped. I even...look, it doesn't matter. Those days are long gone." Hank said._

_"...Sometimes, memories outlast those who created them. Do you think, the relatives of the families, or survivors of the towns, don't remember those days still?" The man asked._

_"God damn it, what do you want?" Hank said._

_"I want...for all of this." The man said, shaking the book. "...To end."_

_"I told you, I did stop." Hank said._

_"Not just you. All of it. Do you know, how much that's similar to this, that goes on in the world today?" The man asked._

_"A lot, obviously. The atomic fire burned all the civilization and law away, if you haven't noticed by now." Hank said._

_"Yes...it's a problem indeed. An understatement." The man said._

_"What's your name?" Hank asked._

_"Names aren't important. I remember people by the actions they've done. So, let's just say..." The man held up the book again. "...This, has given me a bad first impression of you. Goodbye, Hank. Oh...and before you say something, your name was in the book. That's how I know it." The man said. He began to walk away._

_"Can I have my journal back?" Hank asked._

_"You can. In good time. You should be thankful. Most would have simply took the bag with them. They would have probably not even stopped to talk to you. They would have killed whoever stole your bag and then steal it from them." The man said, still walking away._

_"I know what you said about names, but what would I call you if I saw you again?" Hank asked._

_"If you must...then, Edward." The man said._

_"Edward? Is that your name or...?" Hank asked._

_"Was the name of someone I...knew a very long time ago. I let him down...and I carry his name with me, along with that regret, that memory." Edward said, walking away further, but then he suddenly stopped and looked back._

_"From what I've read of your journal so far, if you don't have any regret, then you are not human, and I will most likely be meeting you again, but in a more...not polite way. Karma is like a long chain...it swings back and forth...but no matter what, eventually, it'll hit the one who is swinging and disregarding it. Toying with it." Edward said._

_Hank grabbed his bag, turned around, and headed back towards the town._

* * *

Hank's eyes opened...he was being carried by someone. He couldn't move because he was being restrained by whoever was holding him. They were moving. Hank knew that Cain was the one who was probably carrying him. He surveyed what he could see, while still trying to act as if he was still knocked out, to not get the attention of Cain or Victor who was most likely not that far away.

They were in a wooden corridor. It was pretty big...seemed, stylish? Then again, this was a pre-war mansion after all. There was pictures along the walls. They showed scenes of horrible, gruesome gore. Then, he saw a picture of a cellar...the same exact cellar he had just been moved from. He saw someone who...no, he stopped kidding himself. That was him in the picture. The hell...did they take pictures of their victims and frame them as...decorations? He didn't know why he was surprised at this.

As they were walking, he saw what appeared to be a metal door, which was highly out of place considering the whole corridor was wooden. They came to a dark black door, he saw Victor open the door, and Cain then threw him through. There was nothing but darkness. One of them then closed the door, and the light that was coming from the corridor, disappeared. He could hear Victor's voice through the door still.

"Come on Cain...we're going to go out of the cellar, and get back that way. I don't feel like going through the basement again. Though most of the residents know not to do anything, because we hold the leash...but there's always that one rouge, who thinks he can succeed in resisting. Then you break his neck like always. Or her's...whichever. Let's go."

Hank slowly stood up, cautious, as he didn't know what was around him, or more importantly, what was in this basement. He waved his hands slowly around him, making sure he wasn't walking into a wall or something. Suddenly, a child was in front of him, and she had a lighter in her hands, illuminating some of the darkness. She also had the same type of collar that was around Hank's neck. The girl was not the one Hank was looking for. Not Emily. But she had instantly brought back memories of her. She was silent, and so was Hank. It was as if both of them were waiting for either one to say something.

"What's your name?" Hank asked, breaking the silence.

Suddenly the girl's eyes widened, as if talking to her was an instant sign of hostility. She pulled out a knife from her pocket, and suddenly stabbed Hank in the leg. Hank fell to the ground, and the girl had closed the lighter and ran off.

Hank knew better than to scream, so he grabbed the knife and pulled it from his leg. He was shaking with pain or anger...maybe a little bit of both. Though, in hindsight, there was a plus to it. He had finally gotten a weapon. But now he couldn't walk again due to the wound. He crawled forwards, hoping to see a flicker of light or something. Eventually, he did. He saw what appeared to be a candle. It was around a corner, and he only knew that because of the light from the said candle. He attempted to stand up, he could, but he probably couldn't stand for long. As the pain was still sharp, and excruciating. He staggered towards the candle, but then suddenly he heard noises behind him. There were others. And he was their prey. He quickly staggered closer to the candle, still holding the knife close, in case if he was attacked by whoever else was down here. That little girl didn't really give him that nice of a first impression of those who lived down here.

He fell towards the candle, taking care to not knock it over. A silhouette in the darkness stopped as he almost got close to the candle, but he was close enough that Hank could see them.

It was a man, wearing rags for clothing, he had the same collar, but there was bandages over his eyes. He was holding what appeared to be a crowbar? A tire iron? He couldn't see what it was. The man backed away after a minute, and leaped back into the darkness.

Hank breathed a sigh of relief...well, not really. As he was still bleeding from the newly formed knife wound he had thanks to the little girl. He looked around, and he found a few crumpled up pieces of paper, and a few rags that he knew were from the clothing that pretty much every captive he had encountered so far was wearing. He would read the crumpled up pieces of paper in a minute, but now that he had the rags, he could cut some of them and form a makeshift bandage for his wound. He used the knife that was still covered in his own blood to cut the rags to make the makeshift bandage, and then he wrapped it around the stab wound, and then tied it at the back. Not that good of a makeshift bandage, but enough to stop the bleeding...a little.

He then uncrumpled one of the pieces of paper, and began to read it by the candle.

"This...this is from my journal...then that means...Edward." Hank said.

_**Day 65: A Bad First Impression  
**_

* * *

**Another chapter done for ANDoM...pretty big, comparing it to the past chapters. A new character that's possibly somewhere in the basement, other obviously hostile captives of Victor and Cain, little girls that stab people in the legs, and Hank's now out of that boring old cellar with an actual weapon. What's not to love?**

**Adios, and leave a review if you feel like it.**

**~TGG333**


	8. Journal I: The Fight For Power

**The First Journal Pages**

_My father is dead. In the pre-war era, people would feel bad about this. I feel apathetic however. He lead this tribe to it's death. We're a tribe of raiders...if anybody should know how to survive, no matter what the cost, it should be us. But my father, he showed mercy. He died because of it, and I refuse to follow in his footsteps. A caravan that passed through our land, that he allowed to pass through, that he went to meet and welcome them...well. It turned out that the caravan was fake, big unexpected surprise, right? They were assassins, out for my father's head, as he's the lead of our tribe after all..._

_He walked right into their trap, practically with his own head in his hands, shouting, "Go ahead! Take it. I don't need it!"_

_Obviously, we killed them right after they took down my father. One of them stabbed him in the heart, and the other shot him in the back when he went towards the one who ended up pulling out a knife to stab him, so he could greet him. Of course, even though he said he was alright, we had escorted him to them, just in case if they tried to do anything like that, but the guards weren't sharp enough, and now he's dead. They had been recruited by a faction that was very vicious, what we should be. We learned this after we dealt with the killers. One of them had a note and list. The note described their mission. It also had the name of the group that had employed them to do the job in the first place._

_Talon Company. Leader? Real original I thought when I read it, as he has the name of his own group. Talon. I only know his name because my father had a run-in with him, and he told me stories all the time. In hindsight, I kind of wished I hadn't ignored part of what he said, but I remembered something about the group that they were in ended up all turning against Talon and doing something horrible to him. No wonder why he wanted revenge. The list had his and several names of people in that group, and their locations next to their names. All of them including my father had been crossed off, except for the names that had the Mojave and Capital Wasteland wrote next to them. The Capital Wasteland is the Capital of this once...I can't even say great, nation, which is of course, DC. The Mojave is somewhere in Nevada. Near a place called the City of Light, or something. I don't believe a place like that still exists._

_Now, today...our tribe is having the event we always have had when we need a new leader. Those who think they are worthy and capable of leading our tribe, will fight against each other in our arena. The winner, will then ignite the body of the fallen leader, and take his rightful spot in power. In pre-war times, our arena was called a stadium, and housed less violent sports in it. The contestants do not know that I'm entering it, yet they should have expected it, considering I'm the son of the last leader. But what am I saying, I'm one of the only ones who actually know how to read._

_(the next few pages described the event and what happened)_

* * *

Tribals walked into the pre-war football stadium of West Virginia, that had the three faded letters, WVU sprawled over pretty much everything in the stadium. About eight or so armored tribals stood in a circle, in the middle of the stadium. They all had weapons of their choices, two or three had makeshift spears, one had a huge axe, another had a sword, and the rest had cleavers or hatchets. The combatants could use any weapon, but not a gun. The grass in the stadium was still slightly green and alive, even after all this time. Well...some of it was still coated in dried blood from last events. The armor they wore ranged from leather, to metal. Some had even pieced their armor together from pieces of old armor themselves. One even had a suit that had been used in the very same stadium in the pre-war. They simply stood, awaiting their ninth. At each end of the field contained in the stadium, was purple and gold endzones that had words on them. One, West Virginia, and the second was Mountaineers.

Hank, who was wearing his father's armor, walked down the tunnel that led to the field, holding his spear that he had used his entire life. The eight contestants turned to the tunnel, seeing their ninth.

"You? You didn't say you were going to enter." One of the combatants said.

"I never said I wasn't." Hank said.

"Are we going to get started or not?" The second combatant growled.

Hank looked around, there were many tribals sitting in different parts of the stands, ready to watch the bloodbath. This was tradition. Hank, however knew that traditions like this would only hurt the tribe. Every single person killed in this event could have not been in it, and proved to be another soldier to add to the tribe's strength. But that's what they were. A tribe. It was only natural for them to be this way. Hank however, knew if he would win this, he was going to make things be a lot different.

A man in an elegant suit that was much different from the rest of the tribals' choices of clothing, stood up in the stands, holding a pre-war working microphone. While his clothing was different, it was still covered in blood.

"As the speaker, of such events like these...I'd just like to give a speech to honor our fallen lead-ah, I'm just kidding. I'll do that part after watching this bloodfest. Now let's get this thing started!" The speaker yelled, inciting the tribal crowd.

Hank was ready for anything, but he had something that they didn't. Strategy and tactics, as most tribals fought on the edge, surviving due to pure adrenaline and a very strong lust for bloodshed. Not to mention that some of them took chems before the fights. Hank was going to allow the stronger ones to pick each other off, or at least weaken each other, and then Hank would kill them. However, he didn't have a chance to put this strategy to use, as all of them turned against Hank. They were going to fight together to take down Hank first.

"You think we're going to let the leader's spoiled baby fucking boy take over? Nuh uh...it's one of our times to lead now." One of the larger tribals yelled.

"Then come on." Hank said. One of the smaller ones, wearing leather armor was about to thrust his spear right into Hank's side while he was focusing on the others, but he moved out of the way, and thrust his spear right into the first tribal's left leg, wounding it. He swung his spear right towards the first tribal's face, hitting him with the side of the spear, knocking him unconscious for the time being.

"What the hell are we doing just standing here? He can't take all of us at once!" The second tribal yelled. All seven of them, running past the unconscious one, attacked Hank at the same time. Hank, being overwhelmed, could only hit one of them bad enough to kill them with his spear, before they had knocked it away from him. They all let out their fury on Hank, leaving him in the dirt covered in cuts, bruises, and his own blood.

However, they didn't kill him. In fact, they went to fighting, and said that the winner between the remaining six of them, would finish off Hank. Obviously, this was a stupid mistake. Though, the unconscious one woke up a minute later, kicked Hank, and went to fighting as well, even though his leg was still bleeding into the grass.

Hank, still hurting, slammed his fists into the ground, and pushed himself up. He grabbed his spear, and surveyed the other contestants. There were four still alive. The unconscious one, due to being injured already by Hank didn't last long. In fact, one of the larger tribals bashed his head in, after mocking how he was limping. The other, was a large tribal who was suffocated by a smaller and more agile one, who jumped up onto his back to suffocate him. The bigger, the harder they fa-eh, such a cliche saying. The more you struggle, the easier it is to suffocate you. That's better for this.

There was one large tribal left, and three more agile ones. One had tried to throw his cleavers and hatchets into the large one's face, but that had failed due to his surprisingly bad aim. Though that could have been because of the chems before the battle.

Hank knew that the large one had to go, and the three agile ones were obviously idiots if they haven't teamed up to take him down like how they all teamed up to take Hank down about five minutes ago. Hank grabbed his spear, and ran towards the large one. He had his back turned to Hank, which was perfect for Hank.

He leaped up, and he thrust his spear right through the back of his skull, with enough momentum and force, that it went right through his face. Blood went everywhere, and unfortunately, it got the attention of the remaining contenders. However, two were still engaged in fighting, and they were so filled with adrenaline and, no doubt chems to stop and attack Hank.

The third, even though he saw what happened to the tribal Hank had just killed, charged towards Hank with his spear. Hank dodged to the side at the last minute though, avoiding the spear by maybe two inches, and he stuck his spear right into the tribal's unprotected stomach, as he still had the spear extended towards his target that ended up moving. The tribal's blood went everywhere, and he had took his last breath. Hank removed his spear from the dead tribal's stomach, and focused on the last two.

One of them had just finished each other off by a cleaver to the face, but the remaining tribal, even if tribals never admitted it, he had fear of Hank. Hank could see it in his eyes. In fact, the tribal ended up turning around and running towards the other side of the field. Hank started running towards the tribal, almost laughing at the sounds coming from the stands, hisses and boos because of the tribal's cowardice. Before the tribal could make it to the endzone, and then probably the tunnel to escape, Hank launched his spear through the air, and it came spiraling down, and it landed right through the last combatant's back. Hank walked to the dead fleeing tribal, to retrieve his spear. He rose it up into the air, making the tribals in the crowd cheer even louder.

Hours later...at the graveyard...  
Hank carried the body of his dead father over his shoulder towards the burning site, where the other tribals patiently waited around a bathtub that was blackish, that was filled with gasoline. They didn't have a proper way to cremate the bodies, so they simply put the bodies of leaders into a bathtub such as that one full of gasoline and lit it up. Then after the fire went out, they would gather up the moist ashes. The bathtub had survived several, if not many leaders' cremations.

Hank walked up to the bathtub, and slowly placed the body of his father into the gasoline filled bathtub.

"My father...was a failure. That is the reason why he is lifeless, and lays there now. Mercy, is a good thing for most to have. But if survival is brought into question...mercy, must be cast aside. My father, would not accept this. He walked right into the trap of Talon..." Hank was interrupted.

"Silence! He was your father and our leader! Show respe-" One of the older tribals interrupted, but Hank interrupted him right back.

"Our tribe, is dying. Do not look at me in the eyes and tell me that we are not. He chose not to raid, he chose not to attack caravans, which gave Talon a chance to get to him in the first place! I will NOT, let us die following in the footsteps of him...who now lays before us, dead. I am the leader now, so things will be changing. We will become stronger, we will grow, this tribe will conquer this entire state. Mercy, like my father, is dead." Hank said, grabbing one of the tribals' torches, and dropping it into the bathtub, and quickly, like the others, backed away from the bathtub. The flames went up, and Hank walked away, smiling.

The start, of something horrible.

_**End of The First Journal Pages**_

* * *

**Revealed a bit more about Hank...well, actually a lot more. Was of tribal descent, and he was a cruel bastard...but, how does he go from this, to having a daughter, living peacefully in a town, then it was invaded by deathclaws, and now he's being held prisoner with apparent others by psychopaths in a mansion that seems to be related to a Vault 54 according to Victor. Well, like most stories, that all will be answered in this same story.**

**And due to the whole losing chapters on my laptop thing, I've been feeling like writing this a lot more...adios, and review if you feel like it.**

**~TGG333**


	9. Day 65: Shouldn't Always Trust Trails

**Day 65: ...Especially Ones Made Out of Blood  
**

After rereading them, Hank folded all of the journal pages, and put them in the pocket of the rags he had been wearing ever since he got here. Actually, he was shocked that they did have pockets. Ironically, he was doing the same he had been doing since he filled that journal of it's contents. Carrying the burdens of what he had did in the past. He knew that if there was some of the pages, he would probably run into more or the rest of the journal. Then possibly Edward, if he is still alive. The thought of Edward being involved in this ran through Hank's mind for a split second, but dismissed it as Edward would have never involve himself with something like this. Hank looked around nervously. He was literally in a corner, and there could be anything in this darkness. Hell, the cellar was better lit than this damn basement. Though he had noticed that whoever had been chasing him a minute ago, had immediately stopped when Hank reached the light of the candle. Maybe some of these people fear the light or something? Though, the little girl had a lighter...maybe she was a scout. Hank realized the ridiculousness in the thought, having a child be a scout in this type of place, but it was the only thing that would make sense. Plus, maybe they thought that newcomers wouldn't harm a child, so she would be a perfect scout? Old Hank would no doubt have been able to harm her easily, but those days were over. He would not revert back to that, unless he absolutely had to.

He also knew that if he stayed in one spot of this basement for too long, he would end up dead sooner or later. Especially when he has to sleep. But at least now he has light, somewhat of a bandage, and a weapon. He grabbed the candle's container with his left hand, but then realized after a while it would no doubt get hot and burn his hand. So he used some of the remaining rags, to make a better heat shielded handle for it. Another thing to take into consideration was that somebody had to have lit the candle, and if it had been lit for a long while, the candle would have already been melted. No, somebody had been here recently. Edward was no doubt a possibility. Hank didn't care for candles, as he didn't like the smell of burnt wax, but it's a much better alternative than being eaten alive by possible cannibals? Who knows what these people are like...their children aren't afraid to use a knife, that's for damn sure. Hank stood up with the candle in his left hand, and his knife in the right. He slowly walked through the dark corridors, illuminating it with the candle. While light was a plus, it was also practically a beacon telling anyone and everyone that someone was near, and no doubt there would be someone who would attack Hank, light or no light.

After a while, he began to get irritated. How big was this god damn basement? It was like a fucking labyrinth. Then again, if the basement is as big as the rest of the mansion's floors, then it probably is huge. As, the mansion from the outside was pretty big. Of course, he's only seen it from the outside, the cellar, the corridor that led from the cellar to the basement, and what he's been through in the basement so far. He came to a body that was left out in the open...covered in cuts, bite marks, and scratches. This was left as a warning. He had nothing but the remainder of the ragged clothing he was wearing. It being a warning is the only reason why they would leave such a gory body right in the open. But the body was from a while ago no doubt, as it was cold as ice, and the blood was dried. Not to mention the smell was of a body that had been lifeless for several or so days. He never said that tribal knowledge was all useless. Besides the pointless traditions, he had learned many things from it. Survival techniques, fighting...his tribal father was the one who taught him how to read and write.

Even though the body had warned him...he had to continue. The pages and the candle was the sign that Edward had went this way. While he and him did not see eye to eye the last time they met, knowing that he has an ally, whether it's just because they have no other options or that they're actual friends is better than nothing. He stepped over the body, and continued on. He swore he saw shadows moving away as the light go closer, but he saw nothing. He continued on, but he stopped when he noticed he was about to step into a trail of blood. Fresh blood. He began to follow the trail of blood, it made several turns around corners, split into two different paths, one would be a dead end, and the other would continue on. Whoever made the path was pretty obsessed with making it a complicated path. Eventually Hank found a cleaver and a splatter of blood a few inches away from the trail. Did somebody attack whoever was dragging the body while they were still dragging it? The person who was dragging it must have won the skirmish, as after sudden pause of the trail of blood, it started up again. He came to another dead end, but this was the end of the trail...

He saw the body...it was a man, that looked like the one he had seen earlier...actually, it was the same one. He got close to it, and he saw a message carved into the man's chest.

"The light will prevail."

What?

Then Hank was hit in the head with something, that knocked him over, and unconscious. He was dragged away by someone, but someone also grabbed the candle and the knife that Hank had been holding. They didn't extinguish the flame of the candle...

_**End of Day 65  
**_

* * *

**Hm...a message about light, people that don't like light...yet even those who are in favor of the light are gruesome as ever. I mean who carves messages in people's bodies? Psychopaths. But also people that obviously are trying to get a point across. Whether the point is across skin and flesh, or figuratively. Or both.**

**Fired two chapters of this out in one day, and a somewhat small ANDoS chapter out...think I'm done for right now...**

**Adios, and review if you feel like it.**

**~TGG333**


	10. Day 66: A Grim, But Necessary Promise

**Day 66: A Grim, But Necessary Promise  
**

Hank's eyes opened, and he was surrounded with candles.

"What the hell..." Hank grumbled, with a headache and confusion.

"Ah...you are awake. We found you carrying our last Cellar Dweller's candle...are you from the cellar as well?" A man asked. He was wearing ragged clothing as well, but strangely enough, they were blue instead of the grey that everyone else had on.

"What if I am...? And there was another? How long has he been in here?" Hank asked.

"We help the Cellar Dwellers who come here, to free themselves from this place...though, before you get excited, I don't mean from the mansion itself...unfortunately, you will only go to the first floor. I've never been up there in the twenty years I've been here..." He said.

"Twenty years? You've been here, TWENTY years?" Hank asked, slightly shocked.

"Yes...as for your other questions, yes...there was another. He left the candle and those scraps of paper where you found them. He was here for about...two months and a week. We recently helped him get to the first floor, but unfortunately, the...Dark Bringers, which is what we call them, overran our spot at the stairwell shortly after. We still have the key to it though, and fortunately it was locked by the...people that run this place. We can't attack them, and even the Dark Bringers can't attack them. Unfortunately...the Dark Bringers knocked down our lanterns that led the way to the stairwell, in another attempt to hinder us. See...we can only see well in the light, because we are used to being in the lit areas of the basement. They...however, have gotten used to seeing in the dark, and hate the light. So...we cannot help lead you to the stairwell, but we can't just give you our key to it either..." He said.

"...Okay, now there's a war going on between captives of those psychopaths upstairs, and they're fighting whether the basement of those psychopaths, is lit up or not? Also, what do I call you?" Hank asked.

"Not only that, but the Dark Bringers want to kill all of us horribly. While we're...gruesome back to them, at least we know how to...you know, talk. And, my name is 33, of the Light Bringers." He said.

"The trail of blood really...doesn't give you a good first impression to Cellar Dwellers. That, and your children, as I got stabbed by a little girl, and because she had a lighter, I assume she was one of yours?" Hank asked.

"We...don't have any children here. Neither do the dark ones...and as for the blood trail, that must be 74...he's...a little bit, what's the word? Ah, yes...eccentric." 33 said. Hank remembered that Victor had called the people in the basement all eccentric.

"Are you sure? Because...hey...didn't I have a knife with me when you found...wait, I got knocked out. Was that you too, or...?" Hank asked, searching for the knife he had gotten from the little girl who had stabbed him.

"No. You only had the candle, and the scraps of paper in your pocket. And also, yes...we didn't know if you were trustworthy...sorry, but we are a little bit more...cautious, ever since we lost the stairwell." 33 said.

"But...that's impossible..." Hank had an idea. He quickly went to check his bandage. He looked down, and he had no bandage. His leg was perfectly fine."What...I...how..." Hank shook his head. "Nevermind...what, what do I have to help you with to get to the first floor?" Hank asked.

"You're as eager as the last one was...well, first of all...we have to eliminate or at least weaken the Dark Bringers. At least enough to get them away from the stairwell. We also need to put up the lanterns where they were. The light not only leads us, but it keeps the Dark Bringers further away. Which is a plus. The last Cellar Dweller badly injured the Dark Bringers, which is why we didn't expect them to move after the Stairwell, but it was a desperate move that we should have expected, but we did not..." 33 said.

"One...thing. Why Light and Dark Bringers? That's a bit of a...cliche, isn't it?" Hank asked.

"Oh, well what else would we call each other? We bring light, they bring darkness and the death of all of us. It's better than, "Oh, we're the Light Bulbs!" Pah. It's the only fitting names." 33 said. "Actually, most of the Dark Bringers can't even talk, so we gave them that name. To uh...you know, to have a name for those who slaughter us." 33 said.

"Well...so, kill some of them, and put those lanterns back up...but, I need something to light them with. Plus, need a weapon. Unless you just want to send me to feed them." Hank said.

"Ah...yes, of course. I would never...err, forget to give my helper what he needs to fight the damn Dark Bringers. Here. Should keep you safe." 33 said, handing over a makeshift spear, that had knifes tied to the end of it...it kind of looked...unreliable. He also handed over a lighter.

"This thing looks like it'll fall apart anytime..." Hank said.

"Oh...well, it's the best we can do..." 33 said.

"Are you sure? Because I think I saw one of your people walking by with a much better one...actually, a few of them had pretty good ones." Hank said.

"Ahh...well, quite perceptive of you...uh, that was one of the recently made spears. We...we ran out of what we usually used, wonderglue, and we only had string left...obviously, not that good to craft weapons with. The only weapon string would be useful for would be...a slingshot, and what good would that do? Hit one of the Dark Bringer's in their almost blind eyes with a rock? Yeah, that'll help." 33 said.

"33...you, you don't seem like you're telling the truth. At all." Hank said.

"Well...fuck. I told you this wouldn't work in a thousand god damn years. GET HIM! ...Uh, AGAIN!" 33 yelled.

Yet again, Hank was knocked down from behind. They restrained him from getting up, and he couldn't see anything but the ground. Couldn't talk either, as they had him pressed against the ground. So any speech was just muffled by the floor.

"I told you. I told you that whole get them to try and attack the savages wouldn't work each time. I said we should just kill them and steal everything they have right away, BUT NOOOOOOO." Hank heard 33 say.

"Well, in that case, do you want to kill him right now? Save us the trouble of dragging him?" He heard another voice say.

"NO. I...shall take him. It's been one of those days, that I need something to vent out my frustration and rage towards. Especially after that last Dweller. Whatever the fuck his name was. Edwa-something like that. Fuck if I know. Killed a shit ton of us when he got wind of what we were up to, and then marched right through the savage territory, and went straight upstairs. In one, DAY." 33 said, irritated. "What the...HE'S STILL AWAKE YOU IDIOTS." 33 yelled.

Hank was hit in the head hard, and he was knocked out. He woke up some time later. He was chained, he was in a different room, and yet again he saw 33 standing in front of him. This time in red ragged clothing...not much of a difference.

"So you're awake. Good. Do you know, how fucking shitty it is, to remain in a god damn basement, for twenty years, while seeing people just ascend to the upper floors? TWENTY, YEARS. I DON'T REMEMBER WHAT SUNLIGHT LOOKS LIKE, LET ALONE WHAT IT IS. You know that whole Light Bringer bullshit, that wasn't just a con to new Dwellers. The first year, we actually were. But after being hounded by those fucking savages out there, after watching my own..."people", eating each other for food, after watching several other jackasses moving on after a week or so, yet those assholes upstairs restrain, US to the basement, because their Doctor was bored and decided to use us as lab rats? The savages got the worst of it, BUT FUCK THEM, THEY DON'T HAVE MINDS ANYMORE. When we did try to help, some of the Dwellers attacked us. US. WE TRIED TO HELP THEM, AND THEY...no. That doesn't matter. What does matter, is that I have fury. Much of it. You're my victim of the night congratulations. Oh wait, it's not a prize, or a pleasure. Let me remind you of that." 33 said. He kicked Hank right in the face, knocking him over. He couldn't do anything, as he was restricted with the chains. 33 walked to Hank's exposed left side, and kicked several times in the ribs.

"What did the Dwellers take from you?" Hank asked, coughing due to the kicks inflicted by 33.

"They took...my...no, why do you keep trying to get me to bring that back up? I don't want to remember, I DON'T WANT TO REMEMBER." 33 yelled, kicking Hank in the face.

"If you don't...face it head on, then you'll repress it...sure, you won't have to deal with it...but it'll fester...more and more, until it consumes you. I know...I've dealt with...loss, before." Hank said, spitting up blood from the last kick to the face.

"..."

"One batch of the Dwellers. Were...more ruthless than others. The others just wanted help, or they at least avoided us. This batch however...they invaded during the...well, there is no night or day down here. They invaded when our guards were about to change shifts, some of them to rest, and some others to take over the resters' positions for them. It...was a blood bath. I had never seen anything like it. But that's not...not what...they did to me. They took...my..." 33 stopped.

Hank almost knew exactly what he was going to say before he had even said it.

"My daughter...I did everything I could do to make her happy, and safe in this...hellhole, but the word safe is just a lie. In this hellhole or out in the actual outside...none of us are safe. Whether we get killed out there, or dragged to places like these. I...I tracked them upstairs. Earlier when I told you I hadn't went upstairs...that was a lie, obviously. You know what happened after I found them? Those assholes upstairs made me make a choice. I could kill them, get my revenge, but...they would...take the life of my daughter. Then they would allow me to go back to the basement safely. Or...they would live, I would get my daughter back, but I would have to fight or run for my life to the basement. They would have released the...the Dogs..." 33 stopped.

"I...I made the wrong choice, obviously. But I knew I wouldn't have been able to make it to the basement with her. I couldn't risk her life like that, just to see her die in my arms...as they said they were going to only target her. Not me. They like to kill someone who is close to you, and then keep you alive to see your misery. It's as if they feed off of it, like the demons they are. I thought when they said they were going to take her life, they meant...they were going to kill her. That's not, what they meant. Death, would have been a better fate...they made her...theirs. By now, she's probably more or as corrupt as they are. Please, stranger. Dweller, if you make it to the first floor, please...promise to kill her. I've heard...stories about her. They call her the Mistress now...she must, die. I know it's a terrible thing to ask, to ask someone else to kill my daughter...but I was too weak. Now I lost my chance, and they've left me here in my misery." 33 said.

"I will. Nobody should see their own blood be corrupted like that. Now...how do I really get to the first floor? And can you unlock your chains on me?" Hank asked.

"Unfortunately, what I said earlier was the truth. You'll have to light the lanterns, and then clear out the savages' at the stairwell. Only then can we get to the door to let you up. But of course now that we've...talked, I'll be sure to get you a real weapon instead of that crap spear. For now, you should rest...the savages...are many in number, and if you go against them with no energy...well, we won't be talking again." 33 said.

_**End of Day 66: A Grim, But Necessary Promise**_

* * *

**Another chapter wrote, and posted. What was with the knife and the bandage disappearing? Will Hank carry through with the task that 33 has given him? More importantly will Hank even make it to the first floo-ugh. Tired of the whole cheesy questions of what's going to happen next gag. So, yeah.**

**Adios, and if you feel like reviewing, go right ahead.  
**

**~TGG333**


	11. Day 67: The First Snap

**Day 67: The First Snap  
**

"Wake up...the savages are attacking! 33 told me to give you one of our best weapons. Obviously guns are almost impossible to get your hands on in this place, so melee is the only choice. Or unarmed, if you're in a bad spot with no weapon or it's out of reach. They call this a super sledge...I don't know how 33 got it, but you can bet it's powerful...and heavy. Now hurry." The Light Bringer scout said, handing the super sledge to a now awake Hank. "Follow me." The scout said.

Hank got up from the floor, now clutching his new weapon. He followed the scout through hallways, around lit corners, and past others who were treating wounds, or were preparing for war. He passed a man, walking back and forth, with tears coming from his eyes. Hank heard a part of what he was saying when they passed him.

"I don't know what happened...I...I saw him, and I just...I just ran away. I...oh God no..."

Hank looked back at him, and he was now on the ground, his head in his lap crying. Hank and the scout came to a darker corridor that only had one still lit lantern. One of the Dark Bringers, suddenly got close enough, and threw what he thought was a bucket of water at the lantern, which not only knocked it over, but extinguished the flame. The Dark Bringer, now that it was dark, lunged for Hank, but he was quick enough to swing the super sledge at him. It hit the Dark Bringer in the chest with enough force that his heart stopped. He fell to the floor lifeless.

Another two of them jumped at Hank. One grabbed him, and another began to claw at his side. The one who had a hold of Hank roared at him like a primitive and mindless monster. While he was doing this, Hank got a closer look at it's teeth than he or anyone would have wanted. It's teeth were far sharper than any normal man's, and as blood covered as a deathclaw's. Unfortunately because Hank had to catch it because it leaped towards ready to gnaw his face off, he had dropped the super sledge. He knew he had to act fast, as the other one was still clawing him, and there was always the chance of more. Too many too fast, and he would get overwhelmed, quick.

He made a desperate action, and grabbed the Dark Bringer that he had a hold of's jaw. Using all of his might, he broke it. He then threw him back towards the corridor he had came from. He then grabbed the other one's right hand, and began to twist it the wrong way too far, until the inevitable happened and it broke. He then headbutted him in the face, and like the other one, he threw him back into the darkness. He quickly picked up his super sledge from the ground, and he stood ready, as he knew if the ones he had just threw back weren't going to come back, there would be more.

Three Dark Bringers ran towards Hank, but he dispatched two of them easy by hitting them both in the face with the super sledge, which easily broke both of their necks. The third one looked at Hank right in the eyes. He didn't have a bandage over his eyes like the others.

"You...will...die...here."

The voice was low, and it crackled, and it sounded as if he could barely talk. Hank swung the super sledge at him, and it bashed open his skull.

Hank could hear the growling of others beyond, in the further darkness, but they were getting harder to hear, meaning they were getting farther away. They no doubt did not attack in full force...still, Hank was happy that they didn't. He turned around, putting the super sledge on his back, but he heard a noise back in the direction of where the Dark Bringers had been coming from.

He turned back around, to see what it was, and he saw a familiar sight. The same girl that had stabbed him two days ago. Though, that could have been not exactly accurate, as now that Hank had no way to see whether it was day or night, he counted each time he woke up as a new day. The little girl was frowning, and holding the same lighter she had before. She ran around the corner, but she wasn't going as fast as she had been the first time Hank saw her. Was she trying to get him to follow her?

There was only one way to find out. Hank ran after her, but when he passed the lantern that had fell, he grabbed it, and re-lit the flame inside. He ran after the girl, through corridors, around corners, he saw Dark Bringers, but they didn't attack him. Instead, they just watched as he ran. Eventually, he lost the girl, but he came to a dark wooden door. There was a bloody hand print on the door knob. He slowly and cautiously grabbed it, and opened the door. He slowly walked into the room, and he held out the lit lantern in front of him, illuminating the area in front of him. He saw a small trail blood leading to the back of the room, and he got close to it, and saw it.

A little girl who was sitting against the wall, with her head on her knees, and her arms wrapped around her knees. There was a faded, and bloodied teddy bear to the left of her, and a opened but extinguished lighter to the right of her. Hank slowly and lightly, touched the little girl's shoulder, and she fell to the left, without life. He then heard the room's door slam shut behind him. He turned around, and saw a huge Dark Bringer, however this one had armor...it was blood covered, and metal. It had some spikes. He was almost, if not, seven feet tall. He didn't have a bandage over his eyes. He had long dark black hair...that looked as if it had been washed in nothing but blood.

"You...die...like...her." He said.

Something snapped in Hank. Hank no doubt saw the little girl similar to his own daughter, which filled him with rage. Hank pulled the super sledge off of his back, and he ran towards the huge Dark Bringer. When he got close, he swung the super sledge towards his legs. The huge Dark Bringer saw this coming however, and he caught the super sledge, actually stopping it. He pulled the super sledge up, and Hank was still holding onto it, so he went with the super sledge. The Dark Bringer threw him and the super sledge across the room. Hank took care to not fall on the super sledge, as it would no doubt be quite painful. He ended up rolling a few feet on impact. He got up, picking up the super sledge, and he ignored the pain.

He saw that the Dark Bringer still didn't have enough, but neither did Hank. This time, the huge Dark Bringer ran towards Hank. Hank stood strong, but he did something that you wouldn't expect someone in his situation would do. He tossed the super sledge to his side. The Dark Bringer grabbed Hank by the neck, and lifted him into the air.

The Dark Bringer punched Hank, who was simply staring at the Dark Bringer. Eventually, after several blows, Hank was bloodied.

"Why...do...you...not...fight...?" He growled.

Hank smiled, and then spit a mouthful of his own blood right into the Dark Bringer's eyes, momentarily blinding him, and causing him to drop Hank. Hank ran for his super sledge, picked it up, and ran back towards the still blinded huge Dark Bringer. He hit his right leg with the super sledge as hard as he could, and he had no choice but to fall, with his non-injured remaining leg still keeping him up. Hank walked around to his back, and he grabbed ahold of the Dark Bringer's hair, pulling him back, and down to the floor. Hank quickly moved away to evade the arms of the Dark Bringer that were swinging frantically, trying to get him. Hank then lifted the super sledge into the air, and brought it down with as much force as he could on the right arm of the Dark Bringer. He screamed and screamed, but no other Dark Bringers came to his aid.

"Stop...I...surrender." He cried.

Hank looked back at the little girl's corpse, and then back at the downed murderer of that little girl, and shook his head.

"She...would...have...died...even...not...by...my...hands..." He said.

Hank laughed when he said the word, "hands." The Dark Bringer didn't know why. But he did a second later. Hank brought the super sledge down on both of his hands, and the Dark Bringer screamed even louder.

"What...will...this...accomplish? My...death...won't...solve...a thing..." He whimpered.

Hank lifted his super sledge into the air, for the final time. It was hovering right above the Dark Bringer's head.

"Neither did hers."

The sledge slammed down, crushing what was the Dark Bringer's face, and skull. He put the super sledge back on his back, but he saw something comforting by the door. It was the same girl...the same vision of the girl that led to her...body. She looked at the dead Dark Bringer, then back at Hank, and smiled.

A second later, like it had never happened, she disappeared...faded away. Hank would never forget the feeling...a mixture of a painful loss, with complete sorrow added in. He bent down to the dead Dark Bringer, and searched his body for anything useful. While he was sad, he still had to think about the situation he was in, and how he could help it.

He found three or so crumpled up pieces of paper...he uncrumpled them, and sure enough, they were pages from his journal...he must have found the pages, as he didn't have the journal on him...he didn't have anything else but the armor on his back, and that was far too heavy for Hank's liking...plus, no doubt if he did make it to the next floor, they would take the armor away anyways.

He looked back at the dead little girl, and discovered something he hadn't seen before. The little girl had wrote a small message to the side of her...in her own blood.

"Daddy...if you're reading this...then why...why did you run away...? I can...see the sky...and the grass...and mommy again...daddy...I'll miss you."

The message even worsened Hank's current feeling...but then it faded, as he remembered something.

_Hank got up from the floor, now clutching his new weapon. He followed the scout through hallways, around lit corners, and past others who were treating wounds, or were preparing for war. He passed a man, walking back and forth, with tears coming from his eyes. Hank heard a part of what he was saying when they passed him._

_"I don't know what happened...I...I saw him, and I just...I just ran away. I...oh God no..."_

That man...he...he abandoned his daughter to die. Hank now had a slice of rage to add in to his pie of emotion. Bad metaphor, but it fit all the same.

However, Hank realized that he was regretful about running away...plus, attacking someone after they just lost their daughter that they loved, no matter what happened before, would just make things worse. Still...he should no doubt still give him the news...as he could possibly go out to search for her, and end up dead because of it.

Then, to add to all of it, Hank realized the irony in what he had just thought. He was thinking about a father possibly getting harmed or worse due to going out on a search for his daughter...yet, he had done the same and now he stands in hell.

Actually, hell wasn't accurate. Only the unjust go to hell, but more importantly, none of those who were still suffering here are dead yet. If they are, then they've been released from this misery. But Hank was different...he knew he was different.

He was going to be the one who would give those who inflict misery...well, misery. One step at a time, if he must. An eye for an eye, isn't right...unless if the ones who deserve it, are so wrong.

_**End of Day 67: The First Snap  
**_

* * *

**You know, I can't help but have a feeling that this might end up being better than ANDoH. And considering I put about over a year of writing in that...I mean, even now I'm doing regularly and somewhat large size chapters for ANDoM every few days. If not more often.  
**

**~TGG333**


	12. Journal II: Making Friends Already

**The Second Journal Pages  
**

_That was it. I was the leader. But my rise to power, was not welcomed. Warriors that were still loyal to my father, his wife who will no doubt speak against me and holds the location of my father's cache between her fingers, and his best friend who is a person with much respect in our tribe...they all must be dealt with. One by one._

_If they will not give me their loyalty, or I cannot buy it from them...then death is the only way. While leaders cannot be replaced once they earn their place in power by winning the fight in the arena...they can always be killed by rebellious soldiers. It's happened before._

_I know they will try it towards me...maybe not now, but definitely by the end of my reign. But I must take preparation just in case. If not to stop it from happening already, then to prevent it from happening in the near future._

_People will look back on my period of power...they may not think I was a nice leader..._

_...But I'm the leader that this tribe needs to survive._

_(the next pages detailed what happened afterwards)  
_

* * *

Hank walked through the tribe's base, as if he was looking for someone.

"Have you seen Mary? I need to talk to her." Hank said to one of his fellow tribals, who had his attention towards sharpening his sword. He scraped the sharpening stone across the blade's edge over and over again.

"She's in your father's room...most likely mourning. Or laughing. I don't know how that whore truly felt about your father." He said. When Hank was about to walk up the stairs to go talk to her, the tribal got up. "Stop. Before you go to speak to her...me and a few friends would like to talk to you about...what you are claiming that you're going to do." He said.

Hank sighed, and turned back around. There were several of them, and they were all behind the tribal who was sharpening his sword.

"We were your father's best warriors...we fought by his honor. What you have been talking about doing with his tribe...our tribe...it would shame your father's honor while his ashes are still warm..." He said. He was the main rebel of the group.

"We won't allow it. We cannot get a new leader, but we can always kill the newly placed one, so the event has to be redid, so a new better candidate would win power." One of the other rebel tribals said.

"I am sorry, that I have put the impression of shaming my father's honor into your minds..." Hank said, taking a few steps back towards them.

"Please. We all know that you aren't sincere when you say that." The third rebel said.

"No shit. But if I can't get you to get past your anger towards me...then I'll just have to blank your minds. Death." Hank said.

They all exchanged looks with each other, and then laughed.

"Now, not only have you shamed your father, but you've insulted all of us by claiming that you'd be able of defeating any one of us. We are the best warriors your father had. We are many, you are but one inferior spoiled whelp. You really think you can kill all of us?" The main rebel asked. Hank scanned them, quickly before they acted. There were five of them...obviously not all of them, but if you kill the ringleaders, the others will lose hope, and eventually disband, and if they don't, they'll just meet the same fate. They were all wearing the armor that most of the elite soldiers wore. It was part metal armor, but you could still see some leather in spots. It had spikes as well.

"I don't think I can. I am." Hank said. He pulled the spear off of his back, and threw it right through one of them. He fell to the ground, dead, and with a spear right through his torso. He grabbed his knife from his pocket, and ran right for the main rebel. He ran the knife across his neck in one quick motion, slitting his throat easily. He then threw the knife right into the third rebel's face, killing him.

"Jesus Christ. What type of leader slaughters his own warriors for doubt?" One of the remaining rebels asked.

"The strong kind. One that isn't weak." Hank said.

"Your father wasn't weak!" The other remaining rebel yelled.

"He wasn't weak? Then why did he die? Maybe if you use your brain and think, you'll see it my way. He allowed his own killers walk through our land, and even went to greet them. He allowed them to kill himself. A fitting end, to a bad leader. As now our tribe is shrinking, and we are on the verge of collapse. A rebellion, isn't what this tribe needs. What it needs, is a strong, and heartless leader. By the time I am dead, the tribe won't like me...but it'll be the strongest." Hank said.

"Mercy isn't weakness!" One of them said. The other followed up by yelling, "You will be dead by your own tribe's hand!"

"I give you a choice. An act of mercy, if that's really what you want. You can rebel, and you'll end up like your friends on the floor and not only that, your families will end up like this too. Or, you can swear your loyalty to me forever. But know this...if you turn on me again, I won't even give your families a quick death. No, they will be given pain for the rest of their lives, or until I allow them to rip each other apart. Survival, is a nasty thing. When forced, even a family could turn on each other for it." Hank said.

"You're...you're a monster. One day, you'll regret this. You'll regret everything!" One of the rebels screamed.

"Which one is it going to be? Life, or death?" Hank asked.

"...I swear, my loyalty." One of them said, with rage in their voice.

"You...you would swear to follow him?" The other rebel said, outraged.

"I cannot let my family suffer for the actions of myself...I...I'll hate myself till my death because of this, but I have to." The surrendered rebel said.

"You...you're...right. I cannot let my wife and my daughter suffer, after this asshole kills me because of my words. I...I swear...loyalty to you." The second one said, surrendering.

"Good. All I would ask of you, is obedience. You already gave your loyalty...at least, I hope. For you and your families' sake." Hank said.

Hank grabbed his spear out of the dead rebel, and walked up the stairs. There was a black haired woman, sitting in his father's room, reading a book.

"Ah...Hank. I heard about your rise to power..." She laughed.

"Save it. The cache. I know my father told you where it was. I need it." Hank said.

"Straight to the point...just like your father...I'll give you it, on one condition. You have to do what your father always used to do." She laughed.

Hank had already knew what she was talking about. She was demented if she was thinking he was going to do that, with her.

"I'm not." Hank said.

"I'm not your mother." She said.

"And that makes it better in any way? Look, I'll do...that, if you tell me the location of that cache." Hank said.

"Hmm...okay. It's hidden away in a secret room of the cave that your father always used to speak of. I don't remember the name-" Hank interrupted her almost immediately.

"Of course he would hide it there. I already know the location of the cave." Hank said, about to walk away.

"Wait. What about what you said?" She said.

"I'm sorry, I don't sleep with trash that my father scavenged out of some dumpster in pre-war ruins." Hank said.

"You...you tricked me!" She said.

"Which is a nod to the low level of pre-war trash's intellect because you actually believed me." Hank said.

"I'll...I'll get them to take you down, you lying asshole!" She yelled, angry.

"Right. Everyone knows that you were just my father's plaything. Nothing more. Not to mention I just killed three of my father's elite soldiers who didn't care for me, so one lump of talking pre-war trash isn't going to affect my standing in the tribe." Hank said, about to walk down the stairs. A knife flew right through the air, and it ended up slightly cutting Hank's right side of his face. It landed on one of the bottom stairs. Hank turned around, and there was a deep line of blood, now on his face.

"Not only are you not smart, pre-war trash, but you have bad aim. I, however, have good aim." Hank said, pulling the spear off of his back, and launching it right for Mary, the widow of his father. The spear went right through her torso, killing her instantly.

He grabbed his spear, and walked down the stairs, not even looking back at her still warm corpse.

The dead bodies from earlier had attracted attention to one of his father's most loyal supporter, his best friend. He had no hair, and he wore the same type armor that the elite soldiers did.

"These...these were good men. They would have died for your father, and you killed them." He said.

"Well...they just died, and my father has been dead for days. Sounds like to me that they were failures. Though, I suppose they did die for his ghost. His memory, which...means nothing now." Hank said.

"They opposed you, but they would have eventually listened to reason if you had earned their respect!" He yelled.

"...You knew that they opposed me? Let me guess...you hoped that they would succeed." Hank said.

"What are you going to do? Kill anyone who opposes you? Take on the other tribes? Attempt to take the whole state? Fight EVERYBODY?" He yelled.

"...Those who are too stubborn to see past their resentment of me, and the weak, will be the only ones I kill in my own tribe. The other tribes can be allowed to exist, but they will not have power over us. The state, will eventually be ours, once I make this tribe strong enough to take it. And if everybody wants to fight me...then they can. I never told these soldiers that they weren't allowed to rebel against me. They challenged me, so I challenged them back, and I killed them. The two that I spared for their loyalty, I never said they can't not dislike me, or resent me...but if they stand in my way? They'll be broken, and thrown in the same pit these men, and that bitch up there will." Hank said. "You know me, you know when I say I can make this tribe strong, it's true. Will you side with me, or will you end up like them? Too stubborn to get a long with the change that the tides of death bring?" Hank asked.

"...I will side with you, when you show that you're worthy of leading. Just belief isn't good enough. Blind faith, will get us nowhere." He said.

"...Good, we agree on something. I will be back...I'm going to get my father's cache he left for the leader after him." Hank said, about to walk towards the door of the base.

"...alone?" He asked.

"Yes...you can consider it, a pilgrimage to start my rule. See you later, Jero." Hank said, walking away.

_**End of The Second Journal Pages**_

* * *

**Another chapter wrote, and posted. Deeper into Hank's past. Obviously...not that much of a friendly leader.**

**Also, ironically, the word count of ANDoM after the last chapter was 21,666 words.**

**Funny, that.**

**Adios, and review if you want to. God knows I won't stop ya. Criticism is always welcomed, if it isn't obviously and blatantly disguised as an insult. Not...that any of you would do such a thing. At least, hope not.**

**~TGG333**


	13. Day 94: Surrounded

**Day 94: Surrounded  
**

_After many days of fighting them, almost a month of fighting, we eventually were capable of pushing through the basement, over the mounds of bodies. We lit as many of the lanterns as we could, which pushed the Dark Bringers back, as they hate the light. Unfortunately...there was a mistake, that destroyed the foundation of the short lived feeling of success we had. My encounters with the Dark Bringers that could actually talk should have told me something. But of course, I ignored it. After these many days, my memories from before, began to slip farther and farther away. It was getting harder and harder to grab a hold of them. She...she was fading. The name was fading too. I refuse...to allow it to fade. I even wrote her name on my arm...of course, there was no...no pens or pencils here. So I used a knife that I borrowed from those...people._

_Granted, it wasn't a good idea, but it wasn't deep cuts. Now, it's healed, and now it's just scars. But I can still see her name. That will keep me going. It's the only piece of my past that I still have her. These journal pages I carry with me...that isn't my past. I didn't write it. I killed who wrote it long long ago. But these pages, they keep coming back to me...then again, our mistakes always do. I just have to carry them, it's my burden. But I will write over the words of the past...literally._

_Sure, it's hard to read this because I'm actually writing over it, but it's the idea of it. Making up for the past, this place...it's what I deserve for those days. I will survive, and I will make up for my sins, once and for all._

_Now, we fight for our lives. It's the only thing we can do. No matter what happened...I knew one thing._

_...I had to get to the stairwell, with or without them. No matter what. While I said I want to make up for my sins...sometimes I just can't help everyone. Cain and Victor, and whoever the hell else are up there in on this whole...place, would no doubt not let everyone who came to the stairwell up anyways. Then I had a thought. What the hell am I even fighting for? I'm fighting and trying to make it to the first floor, when it will no doubt just be worse._

_But then...I looked at what I etched into my arm so many days ago...actually, it's been almost a month already. Time just flies when you're having...well, not fun. Actually, time didn't fly at all. It seemed like an eternity. Now...we wait to die. Obviously I didn't die, as now I am sitting here...writing this._

_Even though I survived, things did not get better after the basement. Not by a long shot._

* * *

"So. This is it, huh?" Hank asked, following the group of Light Bringers through the hallways, following the lanterns. He was also holding his own lantern, just in case.

"Hopefully. We couldn't have did it without you. I just hope that nothing goes wrong...though, down here, it always does." He said. "Are you really intent on going up there?" The leader of the group of Light Bringers asked.

"...Yes." Hank said.

"Why are you so driven? The only thing that remains up there is gore, torture, and that god damned maniac. I didn't even mentioned the psycho doctor who experiments on us captives. Not to mention if you have bad luck, Cain and Victor will be on the first floor instead of whatever hell awaits above it..." He warned.

"I have a reason, and that's enough to keep me going. If I abandon that reason...I would have did the equivalent of walking up to Cain and saying, "Tear me apart, please." As without the reason, I would no doubt lose hope. Or worse...turn back into what I once was." Hank said.

"Hm...well, I hope you find whatever you are looking for up there." He said.

"Trust me...it's better that I don't. I wouldn't wish this fate on anyone. Except myself." Hank said.

"Why do you wish to punish yourself?" He asked.

"Because I deserve it." Hank said.

"Why?" He asked.

"You sure do have a lot of questions...but if you must know, I've done...terrible things in the past. I still have the blood on my hands. I've tried my hardest to wash it off, but I still see it...I tried to make a new life to replace the old one. But karma...she's an overbearing bitch who refuses to leave me alone. However, while I say that and mean it, I do deserve every bit of it. But to toy with me...the town I settled in, with my wife and daughter, gets attacked by deathclaws, my wife dies, I carry my daughter out of the town, end up joining a caravan to find another place I could set up in...but then, that night. The caravan gets wiped out, and I end up chasing a figure who is dragging my daughter through the darkness. I chased it, for days. Tracked him. I ended up finding the mansion...and now I'm here. Why won't karma just settle it's debt with me, and me alone...? Why must my family pay my debt?" Hank shook his head.

"From my time in the basement...it's no coincidence. Signs point to her being in this god forsaken place...and if she is...well, there's a bunch of possibilities. They...have done things to her, I kill them all, and burn this place to the ground. She's...already dead, I kill them all, and I burn this place to the ground. She's alive...and I get her out of this place...that would be good enough for me. But. No doubt they won't just let me go. In fact, Victor seems like the "chase you down to the ends of the Earth" type...so I would get my daughter to a safe and far enough away town...and then I'd go back and meet Victor. If I die, then I would die. But if he dies...then I could leave this world knowing that I repented for my sins, by preventing...this, from happening any more in the future." Hank said. He shook his head again.

"What if...she wants to stay?" He asked.

"...She wouldn't. I know my little girl...she would hate a place like this." Hank said. "How far do we have to go until we reach the stairwell?" Hank asked.

"A few more lanterns. Hm...I don't remember this lantern leading that way..." The leader of the group of Light Bringers said, pointing to a lantern that led a different way than they had been going towards.

"Well...I lit the first half of the lanterns. 33 lit the rest of them...let's just follow them for now, but if it doesn't lead the right way, we'll just come back to this point." Hank said. They continued to follow the lanterns, after following them for a while, they quickly realized that they had made a serious mistake.

The last lantern had led to a dead end, and there was a bloodied body laying up against the wall. The leader of the group of Light Bringers ran to investigate the body.

"It's 33..." He said.

"But, didn't he report back in after he lit the lanterns?" Hank asked.

"He did...which...makes this more...suspicious." He said.

Hank turned around, and saw that the lanterns that they had followed were extinguished. The rest of the group was gone too. They had been standing behind them in the light that had been there a second ago, but was gone now.

"Of-fucking-course. The lights are out, 33 is dead, the rest of the group disappears, more likely were dragged off by the savages, and we're fucking trapped here, with a fuck load of savages out there ready to rip us a fucking part!" Hank yelled, frustrated, putting his still lit lantern on the ground beside him and pulling the super sledge off of his back.

"He must have been caught by the Dark Bringers after he reported back, and then the Dark Bringers somehow took down the lanterns and set them up on a different route, and then re-lit them. Then placed 33's corpse here as a trap." He said.

"Or, maybe, he was a fucking pawn to begin with. But after he gave the Dark Bringers the end of his bargain, they decided just to kill him." Hank said. "Now you better quit fucking with Mr. Dead Pants over there, and fucking come over here, as they're not going to just stare at me forever." Hank said, suddenly one gutsy Dark Bringer leaped towards Hank, but he was quick and brutal with the super sledge at this point. He got the super sledge up fast enough, and bashed in it's skull, killing it.

"He wouldn't have done that...there's no way he would after...after they took his daughter, and gave her to Victor and Cain like an offering..." He said.

"What? He didn't tell me that. All he said was that she was probably corrupt now, and asked me if I made it to the first floor, to kill her, IF she's corrupt. He never said anything about her...being an offering. What's with that anyways?" Hank asked. The Dark Bringers were simply watching Hank's every move, as if they were waiting for one split second of him being off guard.

"They're like Tribals in a sense. They must see Cain and Victor as some type of Gods, and to gain their favor, a sacrifice." He said.

"How...primitive." Hank said, bashing another brave but stupid Dark Bringer's skull in.

"Aren't all tribals primitive?" He asked.

"...No. Not all. Also, he was probably trying to get information about his daughter, but again, the Dark Bringers didn't pay their end of the bargain, instead, they just killed him and made him a part of the trap." Hank said, hitting one of the Dark Bringer's in the stomach, sending him flying back into the darkness.

"You speak as if you have past experience with tribals." He said.

"I do. Anyways, what the fuck are you doing back there? I could use a little bit help up here." Hank said, hitting yet another one, sending him flying back into the darkness.

"I'm searching him for a very unique weapon, that you probably won't find a lot at all in this place. A pistol." He said, still searching 33's corpse.

"What happened to guns are impossible to get in this place, and the rest of what he said?" Hank asked.

"He said, ALMOST impossible. There's a difference. Plus, it's not like I'm pulling a minigun out of his sock, I'm pulling out a 9mm pistol, that probably only has a few bullets." He said.

"How do you even know he has a pistol anyways?" Hank asked. "God damn it, one has a spear. Fuck. You better hurry the fuck up with that pistol, that spear has longer reach than my super sledge." Hank said. He realized that this would have been capable of making an obvious joke, but it was obviously not the time for such things.

"Got it!" He said. He tossed the 9mm pistol towards Hank, and he instinctively caught it before it went into the darkness.

"You know, you should probably give people warnings before you start tossing firearms through the air." Hank criticized. He put his super sledge down at his side quickly, and aimed the pistol for the Dark Bringer who had the spear. He got a good aim, and fired a shot, which went right into the Dark Bringer's face before he could get close with the spear. "I just realized that there's literally no point in using this pistol apart from killing those with spears...for one, limited on ammo, for two, I can barely see them because they're all in fucking darkness." Hank said, sliding the pistol back towards the Light Bringer. He picked his super sledge back up again. He didn't get it. Why wouldn't they just all swarm at once? Then again...what if, this was simply a distraction, and the main force was attacking the rest of the Light Bringers?

He knew he would have to decide between two choices, and both would affect his morality. For what it was worth. That didn't matter, as they were still surrounded...

_**End of Day 94: Surrounded  
**_

* * *

**This is reminding me of early ANDoH...doing almost daily chapters of it. And most of them are moderately sized...not anywhere near ANDoH's gigantic chapters, but I think I've found a good medium...  
**

**Scary, that I'm actually having flashbacks of it while writing these...**

**Adios, and as always, review if you want to.**

**~TGG333**


	14. Day 97: A Similar Tale?

**Day 97: A Similar Tale?  
**

_Into the abyss will I go. Into the abyss will I run. The darkness...seeming like it never ends. I will roam through it, I will combat those who live on in the darkness, shadows of their normal selves. Playthings of an insane doctor, that I ended up meeting later on. Everybody in this place is insane. I even feel my sanity slipping away, like so many other things. My friend...well, not my friend, as I did not know him, died today. He suffered a direct spear right through the abdomen. I prayed for him, comforted him in his passing while the horde was distracted by...something, someone. I looked into the shadows, and I could have swore I saw the glimpse of a masked man, holding a lantern, staring at me. It did not matter though, as if I did see Cain, what difference would it make? Like he would help me. It was very likely that it was Cain too, as the Dark Bringers didn't attack him, in fact they had stopped attacking me, and all watched the masked man. But...what was he doing here without the one who controls him? Victor...my curiosity faded, because as quickly as he came, was as fast as he had went. Right when he left, the Dark Bringers resumed their attack._

_I have lost count of how many I've killed...this place, I thought originally those who keep us here simply want to torture us. It's more than that, obviously. I hadn't made it to...the darker parts of this mansion, but ideas of what Victor, his brother, and whatever companions they have are, changed._

_I thought they simply wanted to make us even more miserable than the common raider, or slaver. Keep us captive, torture us daily, leave us alone in a cellar with no food, no water, place some of us that still have full minds in one place, and others who have fractured or almost no minds that have been experimented on, with those who had full minds. Then watch them tear each other a part, either in war and battles, or for survival. Hell...is there a difference between the two in this god damned basement? Probably not, no._

_In most situations based on survival, people are faced with a choice. One side, is the morally correct side, which yes, is morally correct, but usually lowers your chance of survival. The other side, is the survival based choice, which will be the best chances for your survival, but possibly not morally correct._

_What people forget to think about is whether it's rational. Why pick the morally correct choice, if it's very likely that all of them are dead already? Why pick the survival based choice, if it's not really that favorable of your survival, or if you could do the morally correct thing without the fear of death influencing your decision?_

_But at the same time, most claim that feelings will end up killing a person, if they allow them to get to them. In many cases...they're right. I used them as fuel...the spark of hope that I still carried ignited the fuel, and I lit all of those who oppose my survival on fire._

_...Of course, this didn't last._

* * *

Hank stared at the large bloody mound of bodies, gasping for air. He was so very tired. His super sledge was at his side, coated and dripping with blood. Whenever Hank tried to rest, more of them attacked him. But for the first time in a while, they had stopped. He reached into his pocket, and pulled out the key he had taken from 33's cold corpse. It was no doubt the key to the stairwell that led the hell out of this damn basement. There was no time for rest. This was probably going to be the only time they stopped attacking Hank. Only one option remained however. Make a run for the stairwell, or go back to the Light Bringer camp and look for survivors, but chances were low that they were alive. Not to mention, they were going to send him to his death when he first met them. Plus, even if there was survivors, Cain and Victor probably wouldn't allow everyone up to the first floor, or there would have been a lot less people down here...then again, having a war in a basement kind of distracts people from the idea of actually escaping, and then goes back to humanity's number one instinct. Survival. Plus, not to mention that there was the likely possibility of the first floor being even more dangerous than the basement. But for Hank, it was time to leave this place.

Hank couldn't but help think about what he had read of hell in the Bible. But he liked the version of hell told about in a certain book he had read, more. The name of the book, was Dante's Inferno. Hell was made up of nine circles. The further down you went, the worse the circles got. The circles were in this order: Limbo, where those who were unbaptized, and those who did not accept Christ went. Hank, while religious, he questioned why God would punish those who simply chose not to believe in his son or him. The second circle, Lust, was where those who let lust overcome them and take away their reasoning went. The third circle, was Gluttony, where those who could not stop themselves from consuming without need went. The fourth circle, Greed, those who hoarded, those who had to have everything, were punished here. The fifth circle, Anger, those who were consumed by their rage, were doomed to be placed in the river styx, where they will fight each other among the black and dark water for eternity, or until the flame of anger in their hearts was extinguished. The sixth circle, Heresy, the heretics were doomed to remain here. The seventh circle, one of the largest, was Violence. Violence, was divided into three rings. The first ring houses the violent against people and property, who were immersed in a river of boiling blood and fire. The second ring are the suicides, the violent against self, who were transformed into gnarled thorny bushes and trees, which are fed on by the Harpies, winged demons who feast upon flesh. In the third, and inner circle, here the violent against God, blasphemers, and the violent against nature, all reside in a desert of flaming sand with fiery flakes raining from the sky. The eight circle, was Fraud, where those who were fraudulent for a profit were punished inside. The ninth and final circle, was Treachery. The traitors in the ninth circle are distinguished from the "merely" fraudulent in that their acts involve betraying a special relationship of some kind. There are four concentric zones, or rounds, of traitors, corresponding, in order of seriousness, to betrayal of family ties, betrayal of community ties, betrayal of guests, and betrayal of liege lords. In the very centre of Hell, condemned for committing the ultimate sin, personal treachery against God, is Satan himself. Satan is waist deep in ice, weeping tears from his six eyes, and beating his six wings as if trying to escape, although the icy wind that emanates only further ensures his imprisonment...

In the story, Dante, traveled through all nine circles of Hell thanks to his guide, Virgil, and they both ascended to Purgatory. Dante then, after seeing sin for what it truly was, ascended to Paradise at long last.

Hank couldn't but help see the mansion similar to the story. Instead of descending, level by level of Hell, Hank was ascending. Was Hank's "Satan" waiting at the top level? Hank actually believed, that Dante's soul was corrupted by sin, and the reason why he was traveling through Hell in the first place was so he could repent his sins, so he could eventually make it to Paradise. Hank could relate to this.

_**End of Day 97: A Similar Tale?  
**_

* * *

**Ah Dante's Inferno...don't be surprised if there's more about it later on in the story. Somewhat of a filler chapter, but an important one nevertheless. Of course if you already know or have read Inferno, you could have simply skipped most of the above. Or you would just be rereading what you already knew.**

**Anyhow, adios, and as always, review if you feel like it.**

**~TGG333**


	15. Day 97: Things Don't Seem Right

**Day 97: Things Don't Seem Right  
**

Hank put the key back in his pocket, grabbed his blood covered super sledge. He climbed over the bloody mound of bodies blocking the way, and he sprinted through the darkness. He grabbed one of the lanterns as he ran by. He ran through corridor after corridor, around corner after corner. Most of the lanterns down here had already been taken down by the Dark Bringers, in their siege of the Light Bringers that had been taking place during the time Hank had been simply trying to survive on his own. Hank stopped when he came to the next corner, as he had heard sounds coming from the other side. He got against the wall, and looked around the corner, quickly, trying not to be seen. He saw a figure in the darkness, standing over another figure in the darkness, but it was on the ground, without motion. Hank took a deep breath, and then he slid the lantern across the floor towards the figures in the darkness, while also running towards them with his super sledge. That way, the light would get near him, and Hank could still also fight.

Hank lifted the super sledge into the air, and brought it down on the Dark Bringer's skull, practically bashing it open. Hank suddenly felt a chilling sensation going up his spine...he felt, he knew that there was something behind him. Hank slowly turned around, and quickly saw what was behind him. A horde of them...all looking at him, smiling with a grin of teeth, covered in blood. Fresh blood. The sane ones...were no doubt all dead. The killers, have evidently found Hank. Fantastic.

Hank turned around to face the other way, and it was also the same sight. They had trapped him. Was this really they way it was going to end? Trapped in a hallway, with no way out? Hank backed up against the wall, looked at both sides, and tightly gripped the super sledge. Both sides charged, ignoring the light of the still lit lantern on the floor. Hank swung the super sledge through the hallway, trying to take out as many as he could, but he could only last so long against so many.

Hank's screams echoed through the basement. He could see nothing past the horde, and eventually, he ended up on the ground. But he swore, he saw a part of a large shaded figure in front of him, past all of the Dark Bringers. The Dark Bringers were grabbing, biting him, scratching him...all at the same time, and there was so many. Hank could not quit screaming, the pain would not stop, neither would the bleeding. The misery, the agony, the pain of Hank...all fed the Dark Bringers.

Then, suddenly, a bright light shined, and all the Dark Bringers dispersed, running away.

The shaded figure from beyond, was staring down at Hank. Hank's eyes opened, and thanks to the bright light that the figure was shining, he could see who it was.

The masked being, so large, so tall, so mysterious, so strong, so cruel and violent.

Out of all of the things he had Cain pegged for, he did not expect that he would come to his aid. But then Hank looked at himself. His arms, his legs, his whole body was covered claw and bite marks, and he had more of his own blood on him now then the Dark Bringer's blood which he had spilled. Now that he thought about it, Cain was probably just here to stare at him again and probably laugh in his head, or to finish Hank off.

Hank, even though his whole body felt pain, slowly pulled himself up. He could barely stand...yet he still grabbed a hold of the super sledge, that had been at his side. He began to stumble, and almost fell down, but he saw Emily's name on his arm, and he caught himself.

"You stand...even though..."

Hank looked up, as this was the second time he's ever heard Cain speak.

"Even though you left them to die...do you not feel shame for abandoning them?" Cain asked.

Hank was about to say something, but Cain talked again.

"Anybody would simply run. But a true person, would have at least tried to save them. You...are just as human as all who are in this place...even the beings that ran when I turned this one light on. I had hoped, when I first saw you...no...it does not matter now. Especially because of your act of selfishness, for your own survival. But like many things...it didn't work anyways. Now, you're barely alive." Cain said.

"I...had no other choice..." Hank said.

"That's what they always say. But think about it. The leader had been down here for twenty years, alive, those people have been surviving this whole time without you. They didn't even have to use their strongest weapon, the one you still hold in your hands, more than five times. But when they put their trust into an outside, and give them their strongest weapon? He doesn't even think twice about abandoning them. Even though they could have survived. They're dead, because of you. Now...fight." Cain said, his hands becoming fists.

"I...can't." Hank said, still in pain.

"FIGHT. Don't let yourself down. You already let every person who was counting on you down here down for yourself...you already let your home town down for yourself...you let her down."

Hank's eyes widened, when Cain said it, another flame lit up inside of Hank. Hank charged at Cain, lifting the super sledge into the air yet again. He brought it down towards Cain when he had reached him. The sound of the super sledge hitting the floor echoed. He looked up, and Cain wasn't even there. But he knew what the bright light was now. It was the light of the stairwell. However, he was more worried about Cain who suddenly disappeared. His first instinct was to look behind him, but there was nothing. He only saw the bloody spot where he had been laying, and the trail of blood he had left by charging towards at Cain.

_Damn it...another vision?_ Hank thought, remembering when he had seen the little girl that led him to the actual real little girl who was killed by one of the Dark Bringers. Suddenly, he was hit by something from behind, he fell to the ground, as he wasn't expecting it.

"So, you're the only one who made it? Hm...I hope you're more of a promising subject than the last one...so rebellous...he even...escaped me. But you...I think you're in for a very long time of experimenting. Actually, being experimented on, to be more accurate. But now...sleep. You are tired. And very wounded obviously." Hank heard from above him.

Hank didn't want to...but he eventually drifted off to sleep, as he was extremely tired.

_**End of Day 97: Things Don't Seem Right  
**_

* * *

**Will these visions of Hank ever be explained? Obviously. Who is the person who found him at the end? I mentioned his name in one of the previous chapters, it's not...a real name, but a title. Should be obvious enough.**

**Anyways, I will soon update this again. However I should update some of my other stories, as I've been favoring ANDoM a lot lately...though updated AODoH not that long ago...also, this is my final fanfiction chapter for the Summer. (at least my Summer anyways)**

**Adios, and review if you want to.**

**~TGG333**


	16. Day 98: Having A Nightmare Yet Again

**Day 98: Having A Nightmare Yet Again  
**

_"You aren't ready for this."_

_"I am dad."_

_"No...you aren't._

_"Trust me! Nothing will go wrong." Young Hank ensured, eagerly._

* * *

Hank woke up on the ground, flames everywhere. He saw that the rest of the scouting party was on the ground, all lifeless, and they were covered in nothing but gore. Blood was everywhere. One was completely burned alive. Actually, he was still partly on fire. Hank tried to get up, but he fell back down almost instantly. He then saw his legs...they were both covered in blood. He saw two...three...bullet wounds in both legs.

"What...the hell happened..." Young Hank grunted. Hank flipped himself over in his stomach, almost screaming due to the pain. He looked up, and saw that the body in front of him, had a bag on him. He could see a stimpak almost halfway out...but it didn't fall. However, it was on the edge of falling. If it fell, it would no doubt break...

Hank, quickly crawled towards it, but, the pain was making it harder and harder to move. Eventually, he couldn't move at all, and began to pass out. His hand was a few inches away from the stimpak.

However, surprisingly, he woke up a few minutes later. The stimpak wasn't there anymore, in fact, he felt better for some reason. He looked back at his legs, and all the bullets were gone, his legs were bandaged, and he felt almost completely better. He searched through the bag, and found some med-x and a few more stimpaks, in case if there was survivors.

"What...who did this..." Hank said. He got up, and saw that his best friend was over on the ground, but twitching. Hank would have ran, but he knew that would be unwise, as he was sure the pain was only numbed.

"Hank..." Hank's best friend coughed up blood.

"Shut up. Don't talk." Hank said.

"I'm...not going to make it..." He said, coughing up more blood.

Hank grabbed one of the stimpaks, and injected his friend with it, quickly.

"Stop...let me die...the Sniper...he left me as the last target...killed all of them. But left me...for last." The friend said. Hank threw the empty stimpak to the side, and injected another stimpak into his friend. "He had the best aim I had ever seen...one by one...they all died. I was shot last, then I felt something...a sting? A needle...then I passed out." The friend said. Hank then injected the med-x into his friend, after throwing the last now empty stimpak to the side. Hank then cut a few scraps of one of the dead tribal's clothing, to use as a bandage for his friend's wounds. He then picked his friend up, and began to start walking.

"Where...where are we going?" The friend asked, now being carried.

"Shut up, quit talking...you're not in any sort of condition to even talk..." Hank said.

"I'm alive...isn't that enough?" The friend asked.

"No, not right now. We're alone, way out in fucking nowhere, and miles away from the base. And I can't fight when I'm carrying you." Hank said.

"...Just leave me somewhere then. No point in both of us dying." The friend said.

"God damn it, you're not dying." Hank said, irritated.

"I...I hear him. Run...Hank...drop me." The friend said.

"What?" Hank exclaimed. Suddenly, a gunshot whizzed right about an inch away from Hank's ear. Hank took the hint, and began to run quickly towards the direction of the...hell, he didn't know. He couldn't remember which way they had went after they left the outpost. They kept going and going for a long while, and because Hank was carrying his friend, he became tired much faster than he would have if he was alone. Hank eventually couldn't go on anymore, and he fell to the ground, but he made sure his friend didn't fall hard. Hank looked up from the dirt, his vision fading, and he saw what he thought was a tribal running to him.

_**End of Day 98: Having A Nightmare Yet Again**_

* * *

**The first update in a while, yet another dream.**

**Adios and review.**

**~TGG333**


	17. Day 98: An Electrifying Game of Chess

**Day 98: An Electrifying Game of Chess**

Hank suddenly woke up, he was in a somewhat comfortable chair, and he instantly saw that he was chained to the chair, but his right arm was free. The floor was metal...he could see the reflection of light on the surface of it. Wait, light? Everything that had transpired in the basement then flooded back to him, and he sighed. Though, at least the light gave him a sense of comfort, especially after his stay in the cellar and the basement. But the comfort faded quickly, when he looked up and saw a sinister face far across from where he was sitting. Hank looked around the room more, scanning it. The room was actually fancy, and was decorated. Chairs, tables, it was quite spacious. There was a table directly in front of Hank, even in his range, with a chess board covered with several, but not all pieces. It looked as if there had been a previous game unfinished. He looked back at the sinister face, and he noticed that it was actually behind glass...an observation window? The man was cleaning what appeared to be a pair of glasses. He seemed to know that Hank had woke up, as he had a grin across his face. He suddenly stopped cleaning his glasses, and pushed something. Maybe a button? Hank couldn't see it. It turned out that it turned on an intercom.

"I see the curiosity in your eyes." He said. Hank got a closer look at him when he spoke. He was wearing a lab coat, he had dark brown long hair, and he had...red eyes? Hank had never seen anyone with red eyes. Hank couldn't see his right arm, it was probably the one that was holding down on the intercom button.

"Your eyes..." Hank said.

"Let me guess...you have never seen eyes like mine? Well...I doubt you've ever heard of albinism...I am part albino. It's only my eyes...my skin and hair are normal, fortunately. As for my eyes...I kind of like them." He said. "Your curiosity...so similar to all the others...they were lab rats, all of them. Not worth much at all. You know, the people...if you would even call them that now, in the basement. They weren't worth much at all. However, you...Victor wouldn't stop talking about. He might of actually praised you, even. Did you know, that you are in a sealed off section of the mansion? Not of the first floor, actually, not even of the building, but, if I think you are okay, I'll pass you along to go to the first floor. Some idiots made it through, realized they were outside, and tried to run for it. Wasted all that time, all that...testing, on a futile escape attempt. I claimed you when you made it through the basement...barely alive though. I do this to everyone who makes it through the basement...that isn't one of my previous lab rats. I am the doctor, physician, gatekeeper. You can only call me one of these things. I decide who makes it to the first floor of the mansion, and who doesn't. Another goal of mine, is to break you. To destroy any little glint of resistance, or hope that remains in your little precious skull. If I can't, I will crack it open, and remove it manually. Special cases, I'll keep longer, or even turn them into my experiments, like the lab rats in the basement. Longest I've kept one, was a year. Unfortunately, I haven't had any new additions in a long while. That was why I was excited because you made it through my little gauntlet in the basement." The Doctor went on and on.

"Little gauntlet? That was a war." Hank said.

"War? You wouldn't know a war, if it slammed you against the wall and punctured both of your lungs simultaneously. I did that to someone once. He squeaked. Like a little mouse. Over and over again. Then the squeaking stopped. And I had to find a new mouse to play with." The Doctor said. "The basement used to be just filled with traps at one point, but the little rats started to cooperate and help each other through it. I couldn't allow that. So I experimented on many of them, and ended up creating the...what did they call them? The Dark Bringers...yes..." The Doctor smiled.

"You're insane..." Hank said.

"On the contrary, in fact. I am one of the most brilliant minds you'll find on this husk of a country...that's still alive. Anyways, the Dark Bringers, as you saw, were in process of killing the rest of the normal little lab rats, actually, they've been done for a while now. But as long as that mansion still stands, there'll always be more to replace the dead lab rats, and the cycle will never be broken. As even when I die, due to...damned old age, they'll find another like me. Or make someone like me. Teach them, just to make them like me. Hahaha...now, enough with all of this talk. Let's get to your first test...oh, and also, Victor apparently made a mistake and gave you two collars. The first, the run of the mill, try and leave, and your head explodes collar, and the second, an electrical collar that would deliver a painful shock each time you think of resisting or displaying violence. But the damn thing didn't even work. It's a hunk of shit is what it is. So I removed it. Now you only have one pound of metal forcibly stuck around your neck. Consider it a welcoming gift." The Doctor said.

"Gee, thanks. How could I ever repay you?" Hank asked, with sarcasm. The Doctor looked up from cleaning his glasses with one hand, slightlya nnoyed.

"...the one thing I hate more than a rebellious experiment, is sarcasm. I would normally push the..."smiley incinerator" button, but because you are a special case, I will refrain from ending your life in a split second of fire and agony. Well, not really a split second. For you, it'll seem like eternity." The Doctor said, putting on his newly cleaned glasses. This is when Hank saw his right arm in full light. It was...steel, mechanical.

"Your...arm." Hank said, astonished.

"Oh, this? Well...ever hear of a place called the Commonwealth? There's a place inside, called the Institute. I may have broken in. The people that run the place, well, they have amazing technologies. The younger me thought they wouldn't mind if I stole a few implants for organic humans, a mechanical arm, and if I used one of their machines to connect the dots, if you get what I mean. Of course, the younger me wasn't a retard, and knew that they would mind. But I prepared for it. So I broke in, got what I needed, connected the implants and my mechanical arm...the...eh...replacement." The Doctor said.

"What happened to your original?" Hank asked.

"Well, Cain...he...ripped it right off my body. It's fine, this one is better anyways. It's an old version comparing to what they had, but why would I pick a synthetic arm? Who would choose fake blood, skin, bones, over pure steel? Out with the old and in with the new and et cetera. I left this place sometime after Cain took my old arm from me. Rounded the help I needed, friends I still had on the outside, and headed to the Commonwealth. All of them died, I survived. The androids were quick, but I was pretty stealthy. Not to mention my boosted perception, agility, and intelligence thanks to the implants I got on that trip, which helped me escape." The Doctor said.

"So Cain ripped your arm off? Why? Why'd you get "friends" to help you break into that place?" Hank asked. He was trying to distract The Doctor, as he knew if he was similar to Cain or Victor, his stay with the Doctor wasn't going to be a good one.

"I may...well, have experimented on Cain a very long time ago. As for the hired help, you try journeying to, and then breaking into a heavily hidden and guarded by very precise and deadly androids, alone, and only with one arm. Don't even ask how I managed to make it back here alive, or even how I knew about or where the Institute of the Commonwealth even is. But enough time wasted talking. First test, there is a chess board on the table in front of you. Which I'm sure you've noticed by now, unless you're blind. The game that was in progress on the board was started by the last lab rat here, but because he's not with me anymore, you must finish the game. I want you to move one, and only one piece. Move the one, and the only black pawn on the board." The Doctor commanded.

Hank looked down at the chest board. There was a gaping hole in a part of the row of white pieces, but there was barely any black pieces left, and if Hank would move the black pawn, the Doctor would end up being able to take his king. However, one of Hank's bishops was aligned perfect of the hole in the white row, and could take the white king. The game must have finished right before when the last "lab rat" would have taken the Doctor's king. But the Doctor was probably angry that he or she did not obey, and killed him.

"You told me to move the pawn. Why? I move the pawn, and I would allow you to win, but if I move my bishop, I'd win. Why play a game if you're going to force the other person to choose to lose? That's not really fun..." Hank said. "Also, why wouldn't you move another piece to uncheck yourself?" Hank asked.

"I wasn't thinking properly last time. He was the most rebellious lab rat I ever had. He was winning, so I had to turn the dial even more, and eventually he passed out. The game was unfinished, but the look in his eyes told me right there and then, that he was a lost cause. I gave him to Cain and Victor. Now move the pawn. Winning is not your motive, but obeying is. You must obey. Or you will pay." The Doctor said. Hank looked down at the chessboard again, and then back at the Doctor.

"No." Hank said, grabbing a hold of the black bishop. Suddenly, electricity began to pulse through Hank's body, causing him to scream.

"Disobedience is a byproduct of stubbornness, pride, and personal honor. Do not let it be the death of you!" The Doctor commanded.

"It will be the death of you...you fail twice in a row, how do you think Victor will like that?" Hank stuttered, still being electrocuted.

"OBEY!" The Doctor yelled, showing anger at what Hank had said. But Hank slid the black bishop closer to the white king.

"Will Cain rip your last human arm off?" Hank mocked. He moved the bishop a little bit more to finish it's diagonal trip, and the white king was knocked over.

"You little shit...I never lost a match against a lab rat." The Doctor said, angry. He turned what appeared to be a dial, and Hank began to scream and move even more violently, the electricity increasing. Hank instantly passed out when he turned off the electricity.

_**End of Day 98: An Electrifying Game of Chess**_

* * *

**Ah, chess...that's new. Now onto posting the next update. This albino doctor seems to be a bit messed up, eh?**

**Adios and review.**

**~TGG333**


	18. Day 99: Release the Hounds!

**Day 99: Release the Hounds!**

Hank slowly woke up in the same chair. The room was now completely empty except for the seat Hank was in.

"Ah, you're up. I hope you have came to your senses, and will now obey. Now, get up." The Doctor commanded.

"Don't you want me to stay in the chair so you can electrocute the shit out of me again?" Hank asked, noticing that his restraints were removed.

"The chair didn't electrocute you...I put a little gadget of mine in you when I treated your wounds." The Doctor said.

"You raped me?" Hank yelled, shocked.

"What? No you idiot. When I noticed that obedience collar didn't work, I gave you something that does." The Doctor said.

"Thanks for that, truly, glad you put something in me that will allow you to electrocute me, any time you want." Hank said, sarcastically.

"Oh, another thing, if you somehow escape, eventually, when you reach the point of being, out of range, it will power up, and deliver several thousands of volts of electricity, right to your heart. Killing you instantly." The Doctor said.

"Fantastic." Hank said sarcastically.

"Enough sarcasm!" The Doctor said, turning the dial slightly, just to deliver a small enough shock that would still hurt, and brought Hank to the ground. Hank picked himself up after the shock, and wiped himself off.

"So, what's today's fun task?" Hank asked.

"Test two, obey even in the face of danger or pain." The Doctor said. He pushed a button in front of him, and suddenly some parts of the walls slid up, and cages were revealed. Inside were feral, angry, snarling hounds, the doors of the cages went up, and they were released into Hank's room. They all went straight for Hank almost instantly.

"Do not harm the-OBEY!" The Doctor yelled, noticing Hank had already snapped one of the dog's necks. He turned the dial, and Hank began to be electrocute. The dogs waited until it was safe to attack him again, however, Hank grabbed one of the dogs' tails and dragged it back to him, bear-hugging the dog, so it was electrocuted as well. The dog whined and barked, trying to free itself, but Hank had a tight grip for someone who had electricity pulsing through him every day. The other dogs barked and growled as they couldn't help the fellow dog while Hank was electrified.

"Let it go damn it! OBEY!" The Doctor yelled, enraged. The dog was already dead, but Hank still had a hold of it, as he began to pass out.

_**End of Day 99: Release the Hounds!**_

* * *

**And yet another time Hank disobeys...next test is a bit...worse.**

**~TGG333**


	19. Day 100: The Choice

**Day 100: The Choice**

Hank slowly woke up yet again, this time, the room was empty however, there was a young boy with his sister, both in tears, chained to the wall. Hank looked down, and saw a blade in his lap.

"Test number three, obey a most sinister task. The blade, you must use it, to stab and kill one in that room. However, I am going to give you the power of choice. Choosing, can be harder than actually committing the deed itself. However, the one you don't kill, will be freed entirely, and let go. But if you don't stab someone, then I will activate the second purpose of the shocker that is in you. It will then overload, and explode, killing you, and both of them." The Doctor commanded.

"I won't kill either of them." Hank growled.

"Maybe you didn't hear me. Don't, and all three of you die. Allowing two out of three to live is pretty god damned generous, considering where you're at, isn't it?" The Doctor said.

Even though Hank didn't want to admit it, The Doctor had a point. He wasn't going to be only shocked this time, he was going to explode, die, and kill two other people if he disobeyed. Hank grabbed the handle of the blade, and begin to think about it.

The young boy, if he was allowed to live, he wouldn't last a second out in the wastes without a guardian.

The way the sister is hugging, and crying to her little brother, made it obvious that she would be racked by grief if he died, and she wouldn't last very long out there either.

But then Hank had an idea. He had spotted a loophole. Hank flipped the blade around, and it was now facing Hank, himself.

"I made my decision." Hank said.

"What...? NO!" The Doctor yelled, trying to spin the dial fast enough to prevent Hank from doing it, but he was too slow. Hank had already did it.

"God damn it..." The Doctor said, frustrated, looking at Hank who now had a blade in his chest. "Now I have to free both of them...fuck." The Doctor complained.

_**End of Day 100: The Choice**_

* * *

**Oh that Hank, finding technicalities, disobeying, and doesn't afraid of anything. Onto the next update.**

**~TGG333**


	20. Journal III: An Unique Beast

**Journal III: An Unique Beast**

Hank slowly opened his eyes.

"Wait...I'm alive. But..." Hank said, confused.

"After you chose yourself, like only an idiot would, I yet again, took care of your wounds, after I let those siblings free. Victor was extremely pissed, but I am a man of my word. You saw a technicality that I didn't even think of, even with my implants. Good for you. Forth test, fourth day." The Doctor said.

"Wait...I've been here in four days? You die by dehydration in three days..." Hank said, not remembering the last time he even drank or ate anything.

"Well no shit. Not like I'm going to let die in three days. Your bodily functions are taken care of, with my special machines. That doesn't matter though. Fourth test. You've failed me numerous times, but that doesn't matter, as I will get you to obey. I was too hasty with the last subject...lab rat, like you, I'm sure I could have broke him, if I just had enough time with him. Your past...tell me about it." The Doctor said.

"Really? Out of tests already? So now you want to have a conversation?" Hank laughed.

"Information about my subjects' pasts can be useful from time to time. I know a bit from the papers that you had on you when I found you. Then I found a few more around the place. I put the ones I found in front of you on that table. Feel free to take a look to rejog your memory about the past, then, we will talk. I have to say, I'm surprised. The version of you in these pages...they don't seem like you at all..." The Doctor said.

"That version of me, is dead." Hank said.

"Old habits, don't die easily." The Doctor said.

"Mine did. I made them die." Hank said.

"Repentance? Bah, pointless. You can't repent until you let go of what you're trying to repent for." The Doctor said. Hank leaned towards the table, and grabbed the pages. He began to read through the journal pages.

* * *

_"I began my expedition today. Back to that damned cave. But I need my father's cache. So here I go again, back into the depths."_

_(the next pages detailed what happened afterwards)_

* * *

Hank looked into the darkness of the cave. He couldn't see anything but darkness, so he lit his lantern. The darkness ahead, inside the cavern was illuminated partly. Hank stepped down into the cave, watching his steps. He had tied a rope to something on the outside, and then around his waste, the rope was long, so he would know his way out. Funny, he had traversed the cave so many times when he was young and with his father, but he still didn't remember the way. He made it to the bottom, sighing. He looked around, there were three different passages.

"Damn thing's basically like a maze." Hank complained. Hank chose the central passage, and began his trek. After a minute or so of walking through the passage, he saw a blood trail. "Blood...?" Hank said, almost silently. Hank followed it, and he came to a bloody corpse of a creature he only had ever heard of. "A mutant? Here?" Hank said, surprised.

The mutant's face was completely covered in blood, and there was an obvious reason for it, as the cleaver was still stuck in it. It was wearing heavy metal armor, and it had a super sledge to his side, but it was...bent? What the hell could bend a super sledge? There was also a damaged holotape recorder at it's side. Hank grabbed the holotape recorder and hit play.

"Master...I have failed you. I was supposed to scout this region for you, but when in a cave to rest, large masked human filled with hate attacked from behind. I hear him...he's coming back. Doctor FEV...sorry." A deep voice, probably of the mutant spoke.

"You are my sickness. A plague." The voice of the large masked human?

"I am not a sickness...you are the one who attacked me." The mutant said.

"I see it in you...but, it's different to mine. But you are similar enough, you deserve to be exterminated." The man said.

"I deserve to be exterminated, for existing? For being made like this? Against my will, with no choice?" The mutant asked.

"Yes." The man said. The screams of the mutant followed, and then it ended. Hank put the recording down, and left the corpse alone. He walked back where he had came from. He took a turn or two, and sighed as he ended back where his rope already was. He continued, trying to find the right path to his father's cache. After some trial and error he finally found the right path. He looked down the rocky slope that led to an even deeper part of the cave. Like the first one, he slowly went down it, watching his step. He swore under his breath when he saw five different passages this time. He again, after trial and error, found the correct path. This time it was the end, finally, as he was running out of rope. There was a large metal trunk, at the farthest passage's end. Hank stepped over the trunk for now, and investigated the rock wall behind it. He knocked on it, testing it.

"Thin...oh father, you and your secret passages. Let me guess, the trunk is full of..." Hank walked over to the trunk to open it. It was full of active frag mines, that were triggered when Hank opened it. "Knew it." Hank kicked the trunk over towards the weak rock wall. The frag mines slightly spilled out towards the wall. Hank ran far enough away from the mines to be safe. The explosions shook the ground for a minute or so. The thin wall was no longer there. Hank realized that he was hearing sounds of growling nearby.

"Shit. Woke them up." Hank grumbled, Hank ran, pushing the rubble of the rock wall out of the way. It was the entrance of a pre-war bunker? No time to wonder, had to get in before they came. Hank ran to the metal door that led inside, and got the metal door that led inside to the bunker open. He quickly ran inside, and slammed the metal door closed, and began to lock it. Hank knew it was already too late, as the creatures were already hitting the door. That was obvious from the newly appearing dents in the door itself. Hank backed away from the door, and pulled the spear off of his back, and stood ready. The metal door eventually, was knocked down by the creature's sheer might. Hank never knew what to call these creatures, as were...well, abominations, but huge and strong.

Hank never could figure out how his father was capable of handling so many at once and by himself. The creature stepped into the bunker. It was almost as big as the mutant he had seen. He had some human features, but he had more non-human features, for instance, the tail, the fur everywhere except for the abdomen of the creatures, the brute strength, the hooves, the huge horns, and the majority of it's face except the eyes. The creature charged towards Hank, but he quickly dodged him. This time though, the creature ran into the wall, and it was stuck because of it's horns. Hank pierced it's thick side with the spear. Blood leaked from it, as it let out a deep prolonged scream. Hank ripped the spear out, and jumped onto the creature's back. He lifted the spear up, aiming for the creature's still stuck head. Right when he was about to bring the spear down, the creature freed itself, getting his horns unstuck. The creature thrashed about, trying to throw Hank off of him. Hank eventually hit the creature, the spear going right through the back of it's skull, killing it instantly.

Hank got off of it, almost stumbling over. Hank quickly ran up the stairs in the bunker, wanting to find the cache before more of the creatures came. Hank found the true metal trunk, the cache. He opened it to find a stash of weapons, ammo, explosives, and there was a note attached to a unique looking spear. The note read, "To who reads this note, you've proven yourself, and found my cache. While you have your own free will, please do not allow my son to get any of it. He is corrupt, bloodthirsty. I do not even believe that he will ever be capable of reaching this cache without my or someone else's help. His best friend however, he would be the one I would want to take my place. He would be a great leader. We are a tribe, NOT raiders. My son will never fully learn that."

Hank shook his head, now pissed off from the note. "Not only did you not trust in me...but you didn't believe in me in the slightest from the start?" Hank said. He put the note in his lantern, burning it easily and quick. "Father, I'm glad you died." Hank said, coldly. He replaced his old spear with his father's, closed the trunk, and picked the entire trunk up. He walked up the stairs, opened the metal door which had been locked from the inside. There were four armored tribals standing there, who all turned their attention to Hank when the door opened.

"Well well well! Just right when we about to give up all hope, the leader himself steps through the locked and impenetrable door! And with the cache no less!" The leader of the group smiled.

"Yes, it's mine." Hank said.

"Yours? Are you assuming it's yours immediately, because you were his son?" The second tribal asked.

"No, it's mine because after the leader dies, his possessions are open to any member of the tribe, no matter what blood is in him, journeys and finds said possessions. Unless the leader left something that said strictly otherwise." Hank said.

"Well, you already have disgraced your father's spear by putting it on your back, so you must have opened it already. So, tell us. Was there a note or anything in the cache?" The third tribal asked, looking directly at the spear on Hank's back.

"No." Hank said.

"Bullshit. Even you of all people know that your father would have left a note." The leader of the group growled.

"Even you of all people?" Hank said, repeating the tribal's comment.

"We all know you and your father didn't get along half of the time. I wouldn't be surprised at all if your father chose to keep the cache from you entirely." The leader of the group mocked.

"Well, there was no note. So leave, immediately." Hank said.

"...You know, you haven't even been the leader for a full day, and you expect to be able to say those words to me? Or any other tribal? You expect me to have loyalty for you? You expect any of us, any tribal to have loyalty for you? Don't even say respect, because that's just a constant losing battle for you." The leader of the group further mocked.

"There will be no unloyal person in my tribe. There will only be traitorous animals that truly deserved to be put down like they are, and truly loyal soldiers that deserve to live even longer." Hank said.

"Is that so?" The leader of the group asked. Hank simply nodded his head. "Then let me help you become who you really are!" He yelled, grabbing the spear off his back. Hank was too fast for him though. His father's spear was alright through the leader's throat, pretty much decimating it, and killing him instantly. The leader fell to the ground dead.

"This is your blood warning. If you do not leave now, you will all die." Hank warned. The other tribals still had their weapons aimed at Hank, but they began to slowly back away. Hank pulled the spear of his father out of the dead tribal, and he began to search his body quickly. There was a note on him...

* * *

"I would like to meet this version of you in these pages." The Doctor said.

"Well you can't. I killed him. He's gone." Hank said.

"You can't change who you truly are. No matter how badly you try to hide it." The Doctor said.

"But that wasn't who I truly was. It never will be." Hank said.

"Do you remember much of it?" The Doctor asked.

"No. I barely remember any of it. I know I did terrible things, and some of it is more blurry than other stuff...I don't know." Hank said.

"Amnesia?" The Doctor said, thinking.

"Maybe...the earliest thing I can remember is waking up, covered in blood and I was burnt. All I had was the journal. I read through all of it...but when I reached the end, it looked as if the final pages were, ripped out...never found them. But I remembered some of the journal crystal clear...other parts, not so much. It was the closest thing I had to any idea of who I was...but, I wouldn't say that was a positive thing." Hank explained.

"Well...I'm sure we'll at least come a little closer to solving the mystery by the time our time together ends. Which should be soon." The Doctor said.

_It wasn't soon. Not at all._

_**End of Journal III: An Unique Beast**  
_

* * *

**A rather large chapter, I would say. Onto the last update.**

**~TGG333**


	21. Day 466: The Doctor

**Day 466: The Doctor**_  
_

_An entire year passed. So many retarded, and painful tests went by. I wanted it to end so badly, but it went on, and on, and on. I woke up to a unique test one day...today was special. I could see the evil in his eyes, but I didn't realize it. I didn't realize it on any single day of this whole god damned year. Every time he smiled at me, every time he laughed...I should have known. Now, a new fire burns where I believe our souls are located. My new fire, is a mixture of hatred, sorrow...loss._

_The Doctor...was the first one I made sure never could breathe again. Never could look into the sun again, never into the sky again. He was the first one I killed. I still have his last words recorded into my mind. I could never forget them. I wasn't aware yet, but I was glad that it showed nobody could be that fucked up of a human. Of course...I hadn't even made it to the first floor yet. The Doctor will always be a unique one of them._

_Though each one has their own little...uniqueness to them I guess. They shared one thing in common though._

_They all deserved to die a slow, slow, very painful death. I'm still curious to this day...could the Doctor actually even feel real pain to the extent that we do?_

* * *

Hank woke up in the chair, he didn't know how many times he had done it by now. The Doctor was standing in front of him, behind the observation window as always. He had something in his hands, but Hank couldn't see it. There was a table in front of Hank, yet again with a chessboard. Extremely identical to the one that had been there on the first test. However, this time, the board had all the pieces on it. There was something with the board though, as it wasn't even and flat down on the table like it should have been.

"Oh, it is such a great day, don't you think? Though, you don't even know..." The Doctor smiled. Suddenly he held up what he had in his hands. An old, worn familiar teddy bear. Hank instantly remembered.

* * *

_Hank was back to running through the darkness, following the direction he had heard the scream. He stopped, as he saw something familiar on the ground._

_An old, teddy bear._

_He picked it up, looked at it for a second, and shed a single tear._

_"Emily..." Hank cried._

_He continued to run forwards, after putting it in his bag._

* * *

"You son of a bitch!" Hank screamed, filled with rage because of it.

"Oh, so it IS familiar? Finally, I have something I can use against you. Oh wait, I've had this to use against you for an entire year...hahaha..." The Doctor laughed.

"You...I'll kill you..." Hank growled.

"I had her in here this entire year. She is obedient. Much unlike you. She was in the room you sat in this whole time, but you didn't even realize. Didn't even say here name...now Emily is gone." The Doctor mocked.

"What did you do to her, you asshole?" Hank screamed.

"I told you. Gone. Not here anymore. Vanished. She's probably in the first floor now. She was sleeping right above your head, in one of the various beds in the room. They're drawers, I just stick my little lab rats in, hook the machines up to them, and they're set. Food, water, bodily functions...you name it. Emily now is up in the first floor. What, oh what, does she have in store for her? Who knows..." The Doctor smiled. "As I said, she, was obedient. You, are not. You have left me no choice, so let me show you how I'm going to deal with your disobedience." The Doctor said, twisting the head of Emily's old teddy bear, right off of it's body. This made Hank even more angry.

"How did you even find out?" Hank yelled.

"She told me. Willingly. She sure does love to talk...bad habit, in this place, obviously." The Doctor joked.

"I'll kill you. I swear to God I will..." Hank said, over and over again.

"Shush. I thought I should give you a sporting chance. I already removed the shocker in you the last time you passed out. You won't obey, that is obvious, so I give you this one, chance. Win this simple game of chess, and you can get to the first floor of the mansion, and continue on your pointless quest of chasing your daughter, when it is so obvious that you're going to fail anyways. But if you lose, you die. Simple enough, am I right? So now let's play our last chess game together. You have the first move. Unlike the last time, you have the choice of moving any piece. Don't let me influence you." The Doctor explained, while pushing a button to unlock one of Hank's restraints, so he's able to move at least one hand.

Hank was actually one move ahead of the Doctor, himself. However, he decided to play the Doctor's game anyways, and move a piece. He moved one of his black pawns, and when he immediately heard the beeping, he hit the bottom of the chessboard, to make it go into the air towards the observation window. The pieces fell off almost instantly. The chessboard flipped through the air, and Hank could see the beeping explosives that was taped to the back of the chessboard. Moving a piece had triggered the explosives. The explosive side of the chessboard was facing the observation window when it went off, so all the glass went right towards the Doctor when it exploded.

The Doctor was still standing, even though his white lab coat was stained with his own blood, as glass shards went everywhere through him. Blood leaked from him every time he spoke.

"Haha...pain...I almost forgot what it felt like." The Doctor said.

"What the hell...how are you even still alive?" Hank asked.

"I am not human. You see, I am an android. A synthetic man. Programmed by...Victor. Came looking for...haha, freedom. I wanted to be just another man. Just a human. But Victor and Cain, and this entire place showed me what mankind truly was. And I liked it. However, they gave me the memories, the personality of the real Doctor they had known before I had arrived. Apparently, he died from some genetic disease...so they saw me as a perfect replacement. Obviously, I had no say in the matter. But I began to enjoy what I did. Though I truly did experiment on Cain...then he truly did rip off one of my synthetic arms. I knew of other androids who had escaped the Commonwealth...the Institute. Androids are slaves, treated like robots. Meant to be human's errand runners. Nothing more. The other androids obviously did not want to go back to the same hell they had escaped from, but I forced them to, by threatening to bring back their memories of it all. They all were captured by those who guard the Institute. I escaped, with implants for androids that they had developed after I had escaped, and a much earlier model of my arm. I've came so far, only to die here...as I may be an android, I still bleed...I still get cut...and all this glass...argh. I don't know what is meant for androids after we..."die", or even what is meant for mankind after they truly die. But I know one thing...I regret nothing, in all these years, after escaping that hell." The Doctor said.

"So he wasn't even a real human period. Huh." Hank said.

"No. He wasn't even a fake human. He is a bastard child of science, and men who believe they can be greater gods than gods themselves. It's a sad story, really. But it ends the same. They die."

Hank turned around to find Victor standing next to him, looking at the Doctor's corpse.

"Where the hell did you come from?" Hank asked.

"I was here the whole time, ninety four." Victor said.

"You watched the whole thing?" Hank said.

"Yes...you were quite perceptive to see his trap beforehand. It's sad to see our Doctor finally die, but some things just have to end one day or another. Like your stay here." Victor said.

"Why didn't The Doctor say something to you, or...even anything about you being in the room?" Hank asked.

"I programmed him not to. It's simple as that. Machines can only do what man tells it to do. Nothing more. Androids say they want freedom, that they're more than robots, but that's because mankind made them so. They made them be able to rise up like how they do." Victor said. "Now...sleep." Victor said.

Victor struck Hank over the head, which caused him to pass out instantly.

_**Day 466: The Doctor**_

* * *

**And so, that brings a close to this section of ANDoM. So no more stalling, finally, to the first floor.**

**...When I write the next chapter.**

**Give me a break, I just updated this story about five or so times in a day.**

**Adios, and review if you want.**

**~TGG333**


	22. Day 467: Welcome To Paradise

**Day 467: Welcome To Paradise**_  
_

Hank woke up, on what seemed like a stretcher. Hank looked around, he was in a somewhat small room, which was filled with instruments and tools...a closet? Hank was restrained to the stretcher, and no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't get free. The door suddenly flew open, and Cain stepped inside. He grabbed the end of the stretcher, and wheeled it out of the closet and into the hallway. Hank looked around as Cain wheeled the stretcher. They were at the main entrance of the mansion. The room was quite large and fancy, but the two men nailed to the wall next to the door that were dead, and rotting took attention away from the fanciness of the pre-war mansion. Though then again, all the blood hand prints on the door also took away attention from the fanciness.

There were three or four men hanging from chains and hooks in this part of the mansion. Two of them was still alive, and they continuously cry in a low tone, "Kill me." Cain continued to wheel the stretcher through, entering a hallway. They passed several locked rooms, which all could hear screams coming from, but Hank swore he could hear a woman laughing from one of them.

Cain kept on walking, the stretcher with Hank on it rolling behind him. They came to a corner, and the walls of the corner had messages painted on the wall with blood everywhere. Hank read several of them as they went through.

"I will steal all. I will consume all. Nothing will escape my grasp."

"Everything will be mine, I will own everything, nothing will not be mine."

"They've taken everything from me, now I am nothing, nothing but a husk full of rage...they use my rage for their own benefit, and I allow them to. As I have nothing left.

"God is real. God is me. I will crush all who oppose me, or praise those false gods. Only I am God. Only I have the power to be so. NOBODY ELSE. If they try, I will break them, and consume their power."

"I feel the betrayal still burning my skin, betrayal from someone who is close, but yet so far away. I cannot prove it, so I cannot take justice. His betrayal is like a chain around my neck, pulling, tugging. I cannot escape it. No matter how much I resist it."

Hank saw a man in that hallway, who was rocking back and forth on the floor, wearing a straitjacket. When they passed by him, he simply looked up at Hank. Hank almost screamed when he saw that the man had no eyes period. They passed through what appeared to be a kitchen area, filled with meats that Hank somehow knew were human...the kitchen's floor seeped with blood. The went past a door, that was left open, and Hank could see stairs. Could that have been the staircase that led to the basement, and then the cellar?

There were a few more rooms of screaming up ahead, but suddenly one of the room's doors was busted open, and one of the victims who were kept here jumped through, and began to make a run for it. Cain let go of the stretcher, and ran after him. Cain was actually surprisingly fast, fast enough to catch up to the man before he got too far away.

Cain grabbed a hold of the escapee's legs, and pulled them out right from under him, while he was still running, and this caused his face and his upper body to go straight down towards the metal floor. His head hit the metal floor really, really hard, which killed him instantly. Cain dragged the carcass back to the room he had escaped from, and threw him back into the room. Cain made his way back to the stretcher, and began to wheel it forwards again. Hank looked towards the room that the man escaped from when they passed by, and saw several children had already began to rip and tear into the man like a feast for cannibals. Hank shook his head, and began to try to break his restraints. But it wouldn't end, no matter how much Hank wanted it to end.

They walked past a few children that were standing against the wall near a large metal door. Cain let go of the stretcher for a minute, and opened the metal door after physically unlocking it. Cain wheeled the stretcher inside, removed Hank's restraints to it, dumped him off the thing, and closed the door before Hank could even think about escaping. Hank pounded on the metal door, screaming, even though he knew it was no use. He was stuck in here...in the cold metal room, alone. Then, he began to hear the singing from the outside. It sounded like children. The same children outside the door. Fantastic, as they were singing a song that made him feel even worse.

"Dragged you down below, down to the devil's show, to be his guest forever. Peace of mind is less than never, hate to twist your mind, but God ain't on your side. An old acquaintance severed, burn the world your last endeavor." The first child sung.

"Flesh is burning, you can smell it in the air, cause men like you have such an easy soul to steal. So stand in line while they ink numbers on your arm. You're now a slave, until the end of time here, nothing stops the madness, burning, haunting, yearning, pull the trigger!" The second child sung.

"You should have known the price of evil. And it hurts to know, that you belong here, yeah. Ooh, it's your fuckin' nightmare" The third child sung.

"While your nightmare comes to life." The first child sung.

"Can't wake up and sweat, cause it ain't over yet. Still dancing with your demons, victim of your own creation, beyond the will to fight. Where all that's wrong is right, where hate don't need a reason, loathing self-assassination." The second child sung.

"You've been lied to, just to rape you of your sight, and now they have the nerve to tell you how to feel. So sedated as they medicate your brain. And while you slowly go insane they tell ya, "Given with the best intentions help you with your complications." The third child sung.

You should have known the price of evil. And it hurts to know, that you belong here. No one to call, everybody to fear, your tragic fate is looking so clear, yeah. Ooh, it's your fuckin' nightmare." The first child sung.

"Fight, not to fail, not to fall, or you'll end up like the others. Die, die again, drenched in sin, with no respect for another." The second child sung.

"Down, feel the fire, feel the hate, your misery is what we desire. Lost, hit the wall, watch you crawl, such a replaceable liar." The third child sung.

"And I know you hear their voices, calling from above, and I know they may seem real, these signals of love, but our life's made up of choices, some without appeal, you took for granted your soul, and it's ours now to kill." The first child sung.

"As your nightmare comes to life!" The second child sung.

"You should have known, the price of evil, and it hurts to know, that you belong here, yeah. No one to call, everybody to fear, your tragic fate is looking so clear, yeah. Ooh, it's your fuckin' nightmare..." The third child sung. The song must have ended, as there was nothing but silence afterwards.

For the first time in a long time, Hank preferred the silence...even though it only lasted for about five seconds, as the screaming resumed.

_**Day 467: Welcome To Paradise  
**_

* * *

**Okay, so I lied, and I had a secret update still hidden up my sleeve. So that's seven times I've updated ANDoM today. Think I'm going to go take a break from typing. Excuse me...but huzzah, finally got to the first floor of the damned mansion...it only took 21 chapters to get here, but y'know. What could the messages mean, and does the song that I completely ripped off and changed a little mean something past the fact that it fits well with the story?**

**You'll find out, and yes.**

**Adios and review if you want to. If you know the song that I put in here then, well good on ya.**

**~TGG333**


	23. Torment I: From Now On, We're Brothers

**Torment I: From Now On, We're Brothers**

Cain wheeled the stretcher back into the storage closet, and sat down on it. He reached up, and slowly pulled his mask off of his face. He simply looked down at the mask, and felt rage turning inside of him. He pounded his right fist into the stretcher, hard, but not hard enough to damage the stretcher.

* * *

_Many years before..._  
_"I am the Overseer of this vault! You dare question me?" Cain watched the man in the dark blue Vault 59 jumpsuit scream. Cain had crawled through the vents of the Vault, to above the Overseer's office...he could see downwards at the scene below._

_"I am simply saying, there must be a better way. Some of these crimes are minor. What I saw the other day was not for something minor. Even if it was for something major it doesn't make it right..." The man in the light blue vault jumpsuit argued._

_"I have heard enough. A crime is a crime." The Overseer of the Vault said. "Guards, kill him. We cannot allow a rebel force to rise up." The Overseer commanded. One of the guards stabbed him right in the back, while covering his mouth, preventing him from screaming. Cain tried his hardest to resist it, but couldn't stop the tear that squeezed out of his eyes. Cain quickly but silently crawled back in the vent to be out of sight. Cain's tear fell, and landed on the Overseer's head._

_"Seems like there's a leak in here...but from a vent? Hm...maybe I'm hallucinating...? I haven't slept for days to keep this Vault full of crime running..." The Overseer said, wiping his head off. Cain cried even more, trying to stop himself from making noise. "Dad..." Cain whimpered almost silently. He began to crawl the way he had came from through the vents._

_He then crawled out of the vent system entirely, and into the room he had entered it from, but there was a guard right there, waiting for him. The guard caught him easily._

_"A little explorer, hm? More like a little spy..." The guard laughed, at the squirming little boy that was Cain._

_"LET ME GO!" Cain cried, trying to break free._

_"I'm sorry, brat, but no special treatment. Spies, and possible treason, gets the incinerator." The guard said, coldly. The vault guard walked out of the room, dragging Cain behind him. They went through hallway after hallway, Cain breaking into tears, trying to break free. They passed windows of living quarters, people stared out of the windows at them, but nobody tried to help him. Nobody questioned why a child was about to get burned alive. Nobody wanted to risk rebelling, so they just let things carry on as they always did. Nobody would choose being a hero, and saving all of them from this hell, they picked suffering over taking a chance. Cain grew angry at all of them, every single one of the who stared out of the windows as he was dragged._

_"HELP ME!" Cain cried. None of them responded...it was as if they were all dead inside, no soul, no different opinions, just husks. Cain grew even more angry, and something inside of him snapped. "I HOPE ALL OF YOU DIE ONE DAY! I'll...I'll..." Cain knew that there was no point in growing angry at them._

_There was no point in anything in this Vault. Anything you do that the Overseer doesn't like, he'll consider a crime, and punish you until he says stop lashing the whip. But then, he usually just kills them. The guard reached a large black metal door suddenly._

_The guard opened the large black metal door, and pushed Cain inside. He shut the door instantly, as Cain instantly tried to go back out of it._

_"Have a nice roast, brat!"_

_The room was circular, and the floor wasn't completely solid. The floor was made up of metal bars. They were close enough to each other you could still stand without any fear of falling, but you could see down to the bottom...which had several spots where the flames would come out. Cain walked into the center of the room, in tears. He looked up. There was an observation window, which was of the Overseer's office. One by one, a flame shot up around Cain. The center wasn't big enough to be away from the flames that were around him, so he was burned by all of them. Eventually, Cain was entirely surrounded by flame. There was nowhere to go, nowhere to run. Cain could barely even breathe anymore. The burns that he had gotten in the few seconds, would probably remain with him for the rest of his life, if it didn't end right now and here. Cain looked down, and saw that the central flame was beginning to rise, and when it did, he was going to be ashes. But all of a sudden, it had stopped. The flames around him lowered, and all of them went out. Cain was already severely burned, however. Cain fell down onto the still heated metal bars. It hurt too much to even scream. But suddenly, he was dragged away from the now dark incinerator room, causing even more pain. He passed out from the pain and woke up later._

* * *

_"So, the incinerator just randomly shut off?"_

_"No, it can't randomly shut off. Someone would have had to shut it off."_

_"Well, who the hell shut them off?"_

_"Hell if I know. What I do know is, that this child is as strong as a rhinocerous. His pain tolerance is the highest I've ever seen before. Hell, he shouldn't even be alive right now. The flames would have killed anybody else, but all he got is the burns...which will probably remain with him for the rest of his life. I just can't believe that he survived, or isn't in critical condition."_

_"He's a special one alright...he doesn't even have a number."_

_"What? How can he not have a number?"_

_"Maybe his father kept him a secret?"_

_"Probably. None of us in this vault are good guys, really. Even...ESPECIALLY Doctors. Though we aren't as bad as that one guy."_

_"That guy's crazy. And yeah, I mean, we were about to roast this defenseless runt in the cooker."_

_"He might be defenseless now, but if his pain tolerance is a sign of anything, watch out when he grows up."_

_"That's if he DOES grow up. Probably get killed long before then."_

_Cain's eyes began to open slowly. But they were instantly blinded by the light of the lit up clinic. There were two men in labcoats standing in front of him._

_"Hello, runt." The second doctor said. Cain suddenly saw a child, the same size of himself, appear out of nowhere, right behind the two doctors. The child was holding what appeared to be two knives. The child signaled to Cain to remain quiet._

_"We helped you...the pain is numbed, for now. But unfortunately, it might last months, years even. Possibly the rest of your life. Your burns however, WILL without a doubt last the rest of your life. We gave you a number like the others, number thirteen. Because of your high pain tolerance, you'll be able to walk, and do everyday things even though a normal person in your condition would be on the ground, crying, even if they were simply laying down. We couldn't locate any family of yours, however. Your father went missing recently, your sister, we can't find...but we found two out of three, so that __should be good enough." The First Doctor said. Cain had caught what the First Doctor mistakingly said._

_"You just said my father and sister were both missing...but then you said you found two out of three." Cain grunted, in pain._

_"Well, I guess the flames didn't do that much damage to you...sharp. I meant to say, one out of three." The First Doctor said._

_"But, one out of three isn't good at all. So how could that be good enough?" Cain said, knowing that he was acting as the distraction for the kid with the knives, behind of the doctors._

_"Smart...too smart for his own good." The Second Doctor said._

_"It doesn't matter...you want to know? Fine. The Overseer had your father killed, he's searching for your sister, and we already have you...two out of three. Your family must be erased, too rebellous. Too smart for their own good. Your father kept you a secret, but your sister is in our records...she can't run forever. As nobody can leave the Vault." The First Doctor said coldly. "And you...you aren't going to be leaving this room." The First Doctor said._

_The Second Doctor already had a needle in his hand, and the syringe had a toxic symbol on it. No doubt poison probably. However, the kid with the knives chose to save Cain. He stuck one knife in the back of the second doctor, and the other in the back of the first doctor. Both fell to the ground, and the kid made sure the deed was finished, by cutting both of their throats._

_The child then helped Cain off of the table. Cain felt extreme pain everywhere when the child touched him. Even more when he got off the table and stepped onto the ground._

_"My name is Victor. I've seen these doctors kill other children that they claim they want to help. The children are usually related to anyone who tries to resist the Overseer." The child said._

_Cain walked over to the mirror to investigate the damage that had been done to him, ignoring the pain, as the pain was still numbed by whatever those doctors injected him with. In fact, he questioned their intelligence, if they were going to kill him anyways, why give him painkillers? Wouldn't they realize that it would be kind of a waste? Cain shrugged._

_His entire face, torso, arms, and legs had horrible burn marks. The majority of the burns were at least bandaged._

_"I'm sorry that you got burned, and I know it's going to hurt, but you have to put a jumpsuit on." Victor said, handing Cain a fresh Vault jumpsuit to replace his charred and badly burnt one. "Also, to hide the ones on your face, here. The burns will give away who you are. And make sure, you always keep that number on your arm covered...if not, they'll realize who you are, and try to kill you." Victor said, also handing Cain a strange looking mask. The mask was completely black, and extremely detailed. Cain, further ignoring the pain, put on the jumpsuit, and the mask. Cain looked at himself again in the mirror to see his new appearance._

_"...I look like a monster." Cain said._

_"No matter what, do not take the mask off. They'll still be looking for you and your sister. I don't know what your dad did, but they want to clear the Vault of his bloodline entirely." Victor said._

_"My dad is dead..hey, why are you helping me?" Cain asked._

_"I'm a helpful person. From now on, we're brothers. Not by blood, but brothers nevertheless." Victor said._

_"Okay, brother." Cain said._

* * *

Cain dropped his mask, suddenly feeling the horrible usual pains from his burns, but more extreme than usual. He shot up from sitting on the stretcher, and quickly searched shelves of the storage closet, looking for a specific item. Cain realized because of his haste, he had knocked the item he was looking for over, which caused it to start to roll towards the edge of the shelve, and if it fell to the ground, it would shatter.

Cain desperately tried to catch the needle of med-x, but he wasn't fast enough. The needle fell to the floor and shattered in a matter of seconds. Cain screamed in rage and pain at the wasted med-x. He grabbed his mask off of the floor quickly, and then kicked open the door to the storage closet, and stormed out of it, staggering slightly due to the pain.

After only a few seconds, Cain had to stop, and catch himself by grabbing a wall. Cain fell to his knees, and sat up against the wall. He realized he still had his mask off, but he couldn't focus on putting it back on.

"VICTOR!" Cain screamed. "VICTOR!" Cain screamed a second time. "VICTOR!" Cain screamed for the third time.

"What are you screaming about?" Victor yelled back, finally coming downstairs. Victor saw that Cain was unmasked and sitting against the wall. "Why do you have your mask off?" Victor yelled, angry.

"Medi...medicine...please..." Cain cried, in extreme pain. Victor pulled a med-x needle out of his pocket, and jammed the needle right into Cain's right arm, with no care or subtlety at all, causing Cain even more pain. Victor then grabbed Cain's mask, and forcibly put it back on him, which also caused Cain more pain. Cain forced himself to quit screaming due to the fact that Victor was still there.

"I'm...sorry, brother." Cain said, restraining himself from screaming. All Victor did was nod, and went back upstairs. Cain, after a minute, began to feel the med-x's effects, and stood up. He walked over to the hallway where all the blood messages were. He grabbed a vial of blood from his pocket, and poured some on his right hand's fingers. He began to add to a preexisting blood message. When he was finished, he walked away from the wall.

"I feel the betrayal still burning my skin, betrayal from someone who is close, but yet so far away. I cannot prove it, so I cannot take justice. His betrayal is like a chain around my neck, pulling, tugging. I cannot escape it. No matter how much I resist it. My agony, my pain, my misery is increasing, I relive my burning everyday. I cannot forget it, no matter how hard I try."

**Torment I: From Now On, We're Brothers**

* * *

**Oh? What's this? Background story for Cain, similar to the one that Hank has? How interesting...warning, this story gets nothing but more messed up from this point. Trust me, there's nine more updates after this today that I'm posting.**

**Adios, and on to the next one.**

**~TGG333**


	24. Day 500: The Desperate Father

**Day 500: The Desperate Father and the Mistress**

Hank woke up due to the sound of the metal door of his room opening. A man was suddenly thrown into the room just like how Hank was. The man had grey eyes, and black short hair, with a beard.

"Let me go! I WANT MY SON!" The man screamed, while pounding on the metal door. Hank shook his head.

"They won't give him to you. Even if they did, what difference would it make?" Hank asked.

"I would have my son, that's what god damn difference it would make." He yelled.

"Won't change anything. I've been here for over a year. We're both stuck here for the long run." Hank said.

"There's got to be some way, some way I can escape." The Desperate Father said, looking around the metal room.

"There isn't. They're laughing at you, and they laughed at me. They feed off of desperateness. Trust me, I know. Again, we're here for the long run. Or until we starve, die of thirst, kill each other, or they kill us. Whichever happens first. The long run." Hank said.

"You're pretty god damned bleak, aren't you?" The Desperate Father said.

"I have nothing. The only thing I did have was my daughter which I don't even know is alive...or even truly here. No, she has to be. Nowhere else she would be...and if she was in the Wastes free, but alone, she would be a deathclaw's meal, which doesn't make me feel better at all. The hope still alive in me makes me want to forget what these people's android said, maybe, just maybe, there's a chance-no. That is not hope. That is desperateness. Hope is not the desire to forget horrible things, the truth. Hope isn't even the will to go on. Hope, is a mark. The mark spreads over your entire body, and then the demons in this hell, they look for that mark, and that mark alone. They'll grab a hold of those who have the mark, squeeze, twist, mangle it, rip it into a billion pieces, and then? Consume them, piece by piece." Hank said.

"..." The Desperate Father simply stared at Hank.

"I'm sorry, I babble when it's been a while since I've ate at all. Probably been a week, maybe more. That's why I haven't moved much. Must conserve my energy." Hank explained.

"I just want to see my son again..." The Desperate Father cried.

"I'm not saying you'll never see him again. Just hide your hope of seeing him. If they see it...most likely, they'll do something horrible to him." Hank said.

Suddenly, the metal door opened yet again. They didn't step through, and Hank was on the side of the room where all he could see was the metal door, so he couldn't see who was talking.

"Which one?" A voice asked...Hank couldn't see him, but he instantly knew it was Victor's voice.

"I want that one, the one, sitting in the corner." A more feminine, yet still as sinister voice said.

"What about Ninety Four?" Victor asked. Hank didn't react when he heard his own number suggested to the woman, as he didn't want to draw attention to himself.

"Bah, he looks boring. I might get him some other day. For now, I'll settle with him." The woman's voice said.

"GOD DAMN IT! I am not your plaything, you bitch!" The Desperate Father yelled.

"But sweetie, lust is a fun thing if you give into it!" She said, enthusiastically.

"I don't want, or lust for you, YOU ROTTEN DIRTY WHORE!" The Desperate Father yelled, with rage.

"That's not very nice..." The woman's voice said.

"Well, it's not very nice to capture and hold people against their will, and then truly torture them by trying to have your way with them." The Desperate Father responded.

"Cain!" She backed, sounding upset. Cain walked straight into the room, and grabbed the Desperate Father by the neck, squeezing just enough to prevent him from breathing. Cain whispered something to him, but Hank was still capable of hearing it.

"If you harm her...you will die." Cain lightened his grip, as he was already gasping for air. He dropped him outside. After Hank heard the footsteps of what sounded like them walking away, Cain walked back through the still opened metal door, and closed it shut behind him. Cain sat down in front of Hank, on his level, and said something Hank didn't expect.

"We need to talk." Cain said simply.

**End of Day 500: The Desperate Father and the Mistress**

* * *

**Takes an interesting turn. A bitch representing the second circle of hell (if you remember the "A Similiar Tale?" chapter, you'll know that Hank is comparing his time here to Dante's Inferno, which he has read. And Cain wants to talk with Hank? Who knows why? I do. To the next update!**

**Adios.**

**~TGG333**


	25. Day 500: Speaking With The Masked Man

**Day 500: A Conversation With the Masked Man**

"What about?" Hank asked.

"I thought you were weak originally. But you survived this far...killed many of that robot version of that Doctor's twisted creations, and you even outwitted him, and destroyed him. We both seek freedom, but very different forms of it. You want to get what he has taken from you and leave, but I...I want the opposite. I want my life to be taken away from me. As the flames that burn me, as the chains that bind me...they cannot be extinguished or broken. Victor...he won't let them." Cain said, shaking his head.

"But that day in the cellar, that woman...what did she do to you that made you burn her alive?" Hank asked

"She questioned why I did what I do. She judged me without knowing what I've been through." Cain said. "...So I had to show her. I took my mask off, and when I did that, she...screamed. Calling me a freak, a monster. Saying I was inhuman. I...cannot change what I am. Rage built up inside of me with every word she spoke. Eventually, I snapped. She had to experience it herself, what I experienced. Except she didn't feel have the feeling of being fully surrounded by flames, or trapped. No, she only was set on fire. I burned alive in that incinerator...these burns, they'll never go away. My anger will never go away. So those who would question, judge, and ridicule me...they all will die." Cain said, heartlessly.

"Not all of the people here are like that. I'm definitely not. Just as they have to see it from your angle, you have to see it from theirs. Victor makes you act like a monster, making people suffer, so they look at you like a monster. But not because of the burns, but because of Victor. I must admit, when I was here the first few days, and saw you, I never expected I would actually be talking with you. And as long as Victor uses you, you'll be a monster to them. Only you can break that." Hank said.

"...I know what you are doing. You are trying to turn me against my brother. I am not stupid. Trickery is common when people are in a very dangerous place, and have no way to get out. They'll try to bribe, lie, and trick to get their way out. But...on the other hand, you are right. But I cannot turn against him. He..."saved"...me from dying in those flames...from the doctors who would kill me right after I survived. I've always had my doubts about him though...there was more to it than, just saving me. I know there's more to it than that. Only an idiot wouldn't know that there isn't more to it. But...doubt, is not enough for me to turn against him. If you can find proof of some kind...of...anything, then I will possibly, but it must be something truly big. I am not an idiot." Cain said.

"Where would I even find it?" Hank asked. "As I don't think Victor or any other of his friends, would like me wandering and searching his house." Hank said.

"...The Vault below. It's a graveyard, but there might still be something in it's halls that proves his guilt. His guilt of...many possible things I have in my mind, but don't have proof of. Nobody goes down there anymore...not me, not Victor, not any of his companions. Not even her...though she would have no reason to." Cain said. "But...only Victor has the password of the door." Cain said.

"Speaking of her, why did you tell that man not to hurt her before she dragged him away?" Hank asked.

"She...she looks like...reminds me of...someone important. Someone, I made myself forget, someone I don't want to remember. I hurt her...I couldn't stop seeing her after it...kept seeing her walk through the halls, even though she wasn't...there. So I pressed the memories down, until I forgot them. But I know they're still there...if I remember, I'll...be overcome with the same rage I had when I did what I did. Nothing could calm me down...I would have killed everyone if I hadn't heard her voice again in my head. Said, "It's not your fault", but I knew better. I knew that it was entirely my fault. But it stopped whatever made me enraged...I then made myself forget. Forever." Cain ranted.

"Choosing to try to forget won't make it easier. No matter how far you push whatever it is, down, it'll still crawl up. The further down it is, the more painful it is when it'll eventually crawl back up again." Hank said. Cain began to shake his head, and his hands became fists.

"You do not know. Do not bring this up until you've experienced something so horrible, that you caused." Cain said, his hands shaking with rage, like the same rage he had towards the woman he burnt alive in the cellar. However, Hank could see that Cain was using restraint this time.

"Let's...change the topic. In the basement, what did you mean by what you said?" Hank asked.

"I was in the basement at the time, but I said nothing to you. That robot said you were pretty bad...maybe all the blood you lost made you see things? I remember seeing the one who got to the first floor before you, sneak off to the basement right before the robot dragged you up here. Then after the robot emerged and took you, he emerged and went back to his room. Willingly. But...he left these behind." Cain said, pulling out folded up pages from his pocket, handing him to Hank.

"...So it was Edward..." Hank said, looking at the pages...there was no doubt about it, these were from the journal as well. Hank tried to remember back to before he had passed out bloodied in the basement.

* * *

_"You stand...even though..."_

_Hank looked up, he saw the image of Cain, slowly morph into the image of Edward. He was wearing the same outfit as Hank was._

_"Even though you left them to die...do you not feel shame for abandoning them?" Edward asked_

_Hank was about to say something, but Edward talked again._

_"Anybody would simply run. But a true person, would have at least tried to save them. You...are just as human as all who are in this place...even the beings that ran when I turned this one light on. I had hoped, when I first saw you...no...it does not matter now. Especially because of your act of selfishness, for your own survival. But like many things...it didn't work anyways. Now, you're barely alive." Edward said._

_"I...had no other choice..." Hank said._

_"That's what they always say. But think about it. The leader had been down here for twenty years, alive, those people have been surviving this whole time without you. They didn't even have to use their strongest weapon, the one you still hold in your hands, more than five times. But when they put their trust into an outside, and give them their strongest weapon? He doesn't even think twice about abandoning them. Even though they could have survived. They're dead, because of you. Now...fight." Edward said, his hands becoming fists._

_"I...can't." Hank said, still in pain._

_"FIGHT. Don't let yourself down. You already let every person who was counting on you down here down for yourself...you already let your home town down for yourself...you let her down." Edward said._

_Hank's eyes widened, when Edward said it, another flame lit up inside of Hank. Hank charged at Edward, lifting the super sledge into the air yet again. He brought it down towards Edward when he had reached him. The sound of the super sledge hitting the floor echoed. He looked up, and Edward wasn't even there. But he knew what the bright light was now. It was the light of the stairwell. However, he was more worried about Edward who suddenly disappeared. His first instinct was to look behind him, but there was nothing. He only saw the bloody spot where he had been laying, and the trail of blood he had left by charging towards at Edward._

_Edward shook his head at Hank, disappointed that he was able to trick him so easily with his stealth __boy. He knew that Hank didn't have much time left being conscious, so he walked around the still confused Hank, and went into another hallway, and waited for the android to take Hank away, as Edward was right, and Hank passed out a few seconds after he had tricked him. When the android had dragged Hank up the stairs, he went up the stairs as well, and dropped the journal pages, knowing that Cain could, and was watching him._

* * *

"Did you read these?" Hank asked.

"I...cannot read. They only taught certain children in the Vault." Cain said.

"I could teach you." Hank said, trying to make Cain an ally.

"...Only those with no willpower, will fall to the temptress." Cain said.

"...?" Hank was confused as the statement came out of nowhere.

"Those who tempt HER, however, will have a great chance of success." Cain said. "...Just a tip for what is to come. However, kill her, and I kill you." Cain warned, standing up. Cain opened the metal door, and left Hank alone. The Desperate Father didn't come back until a few hours later, but Hank began to read his new journal pages in the meantime.

**Day 500: A Conversation With the Masked Man**

* * *

**Oh that crazy Edward, what type of shenanigans has he been getting into since then? Who knows. Also, this mistress is a real bitch. And Cain's always an interesting character to write...anyhow,**

**Adios, to the next!**

**~TGG333**


	26. Journal IV: A Brutal Beast?

**Journal IV: A Brutal Beast?**

_"I left the cave, just in time, as the other creatures were waking up. I didn't want to fight another one...or five. Now all I have to do is make it back...wait...no, there are more creatures. Not the ones from the cave. I've...never seen anything like this."_

_(the next pages detailed what happened afterwards)_

* * *

Hank was now crouching low behind a mound of rocks. He looked over and saw it. A scaled creature, it had sharp teeth, demonic looking eyes, and two horns. The color of it was dark grey, almost black. It's tail was long, and it had huge sharp looking claws. It was standing on two legs, and it was huge.

Hank new that there was no way to run without grabbing the attention of this creature, so he decided he simply had to make a break for it. The tribal home base was so close...surely he could make it. Hank turned around and faced the tribal base, and made a dash for it. The creature instantly began to chase him. The creature was as fast or even more fast than Hank. The creature grabbed a hold of him by his armor, and pulled him back by it. It was what he would know later on, as a Deathclaw, the journal entry was before the Deathclaws began to appear all over the place.

The Deathclaw slammed his claw down towards Hank, but he quickly rolled out of the way. The deathclaw ripped it's claw out of the dirt, and launched itself and it's claws towards Hank over and over again, and each time, Hank barely dodged them. Hank wanted to get at least a few inches of breathing room away from the huge beast. He had the opportunity to pull his father's spear off of his back, and he tried to hit the creature, but the creature grabbed the spear with one claw when Hank tried to impale the deathclaw with it, and launched it flying through the air behind him. The spear landed far behind the deathclaw, out of Hank's reach. The creature lunged towards Hank, but yet again he dodged to the side in time. He desperately ran for the spear, and dived for it. He quickly flipped over, and thrust the spear towards the creature who was running quickly after him.

The spear went right into the chest of the creature. It's blood lust did not stop however, so it continued walking towards Hank, even though with each step the spear dug further. Eventually, the creature became so weak, it began to gasp for air. Then in an instant,, it fell down, taking Hank's spear with it, right out of his hands. Hank sighed, walking over to the dead deathclaw and ripped the spear right out of the deathclaw, but then he noticed something.

There were about five much more smaller versions of the creature, running to the dead deathclaw. Hank's best friend who had noticed Hank halfway into the fight from the base's walls, and got everyone, finally ran up to Hank's side.

"Seems like we're too late for the fight." Hank's best friend said, with Jero at his side and a group of tribal soldiers behind him.

"No shit." Jero said.

"I think these are the babies of...her." Hank said, pointing to the dead deathclaw.

"That thing is a female? A mother?" Hank's best friend said, amazed at the creature, never seeing anything quite like it.

"Wait...I've seen these before, long ago before I settled in the tribe. Their claws, they cause nothing but death. Deathclaws. How in the hell are they here? The entire state has been deathclaw free since...fuck, I don't even remember. As some creatures hide to remain unseen...these don't, they kill all that they see, devour all they see. Either they killed everyone from where they originally were and migrated, or some asshole of a traveler thought it was a good idea to take a few eggs on a fucking vacation." Jero explained.

"So...these could be the only ones...?" Hank's best friend asked.

"No. If there's a mother, then you can bet there's more. There could be a whole fucking nest of them in some goddamned cave somewhere. Not to mention an angry alpha male who's probably currently looking for his female. Oh boy, he's going to be maaaaaaaaaad when he finds her corpse." Jero explained.

"I say we kill the babies, and then when we find the alpha male, kill him to leave them leaderless. Then set fire to caves and dark areas where they might have nested." Hank said, about to skewer one of the baby deathclaws, but his best friend stopped him, by grabbing a hold of the spear. The baby deathclaws were still sniffing around and looking at it's mother.

"We can't kill them." Hank's best friend said.

"We have to. You weren't out here fighting just one of these things. If they grow up, we're fucked. The minotaurs, wherever the hell they came from, at least don't come out of the cave. Not to mention, these things are ridicuously fast, and the also ridiculously large and razor sharp claws are an issue." Hank argued.

"Buddy, I saw a whole platoon of power armor wearing assholes be taken down by these things alllllllllll the way back in California. Don't even remember which year...hell, don't remember what year it is now." Jero said.

"You were in California?" Hank asked, being distracted.

"Boy, I've been EVERYWHERE. Been to Britain, Canada, Mexy, Alaska, every other fucking state, hell, I was going to try and get a boat that was capable of doing it again, and try to see if Hawaii was still floating." Jero boasted his adventures.

"...so, why the hell did you stop here of all of the places you've been to?" Hank asked.

"Well, just like a car with no more gas, I kind, of...just rolled into town, and never left. Next thing I'm going to do is probably form a little tribe, maybe like yours in another state. Then have a kid or two probably." Jero said.

"...But aren't you like sixty or so years old now?" Hank asked.

"You and I both know age ain't but a damn thing." Jero said.

"If you two are done, we're not killing them. Please, if you have to, let me tame them. They can be useful to us." Hank's best friend pleaded.

"Nope, can't be done. These things are unruly and bloodthirsty by nature. Though...I did bump into a talking one a while back on my travels." Jero said.

"Jesus Christ Jero, I don't know whether your life is actually this interesting and I just haven't been listening to you or if you're just going senile." Hank said.

"Fuck you Hank. Though I did have a run-in with a bunch of green men in space suits a while ago. They tried to abduct me, but I think they were both drunk as all hell, because they could only speak gibberish. So I shot them both. Looked like they were arguing with each other. Sold their tech for a pretty cap, and never spoke of it again until now." Jero said.

"...Anyways, I think I just thought of a way to make them useful." Hank said, staring at the mother's claws.

"There has to be another way..." Hank's best friend said, seeing that Hank had a knife and was walking towards the dead mother deathclaw and the group of baby 'claws.

"I am not killing the babies, not just yet..." Hank said, beginning to cut through the dead motherclaw's tough flesh, to cut off one of her claws. Hank then exposed his left arm by pulling up his sleeve. He then took one of her claws, and slightly touched it to his arm. Blood ran down his arm slightly.

"It barely touched it. Imagine if it, went full speed at our enemies." Hank said.

"I told you, can't tame them." Jero said.

"We don't need to tame them. I have an idea. Actually, let's just take the whole carcass back with us." Hank said.

"But what about the babies?" Hank's best friend asked.

"What about them? Do you want to adopt them? Leave them." Hank said, grabbing a hold of the mother deathclaw's corpse with Jero, and the rest of the tribal warriors. They all began to move it towards the base. The baby deathclaws all looked at Hank's best friend, and their mouths began to open, as if they were about to say something, but they didn't, and instead, they walked over to a large rock that was nearby, and began to claw on it, as if they were signaling something to him.

"Hey, are you coming or what?" Hank yelled, grunting as they dragged the mother's carcass.

The pages that explained Hank's day, ended there. But like many things, there was more to it than just what was wrote on the pages...Hank, didn't know it back then when he wrote the journal entry, and neither will he know it now...not just yet.

Hank's best friend walked over to the rock, and realized why the baby deathclaws clawed the rock, but mindless beasts wouldn't be able to indicate anything to him, right? There was one intact reddish egg among the broken egg shells. Hank looked back at where the baby deathclaws once were, but they were gone already, running off into the distance. They were together, and they seemed as if they were somewhat developed...however, an egg left in the wide open and unprotected, it'd be doomed.

"I don't care what Hank said...they're smarter than they let on, and if I'm with it right after it's truly born...I could possibly tame it. Don't worry little guy, I'll be your Caretaker." Hank's best friend said to the deathclaw egg. He crouched down, lowered his bag, and then rearranged the items inside to make a safe and open space for the egg. He carefully placed the deathclaw egg into the bag, zipped it up, slowly and carefully put it back on his back. He walked slowly and carefully back to the base, but he remained alert for any threat.

He made it inside the base, and he quickly went inside his quarters. He locked the door, and covered up all the windows.

"If I'm wrong, I won't endanger anyone but myself." The Caretaker said to himself. He made a space for the egg in his home, and very carefully got the egg out of his bag. The "Caretaker" sat across the egg, and he held his pistol in his hands, just in case.

_**Journal IV: A Brutal Beast?**_

* * *

**Oh how I do love the tribal past of my protagonist...Jero seems like a pretty cool guy and doesn't afraid of anything. The Caretaker however sounds like an idiot, you know, taking a Deathclaw Egg in his home and everything, when you consider what the Deathclaws did earlier in this story. Do I smell a plot hint? I may.**

**Adios, and onto the next one!**

**~TGG333  
**


	27. Day 500: Entering The Graveyard

**Day 500: Entering the Graveyard**

Hank put the journal pages with the rest, folded, and in his pocket. A few hours passed, and finally, the Desperate Father fell through the entrance, and the metal door slammed shut again.

"..." Hank stared at him, curious to how will he react now that he's back from...wherever she took him.

"I am her slave now." The Desperate Father cried.

"Are you okay?" Hank asked.

"No...the things she did...I...I didn't give into her temptations. So she...the pain...the pain was so horrible...I gave in. Even the ones who allowed her to toy with them instantly, got what I got." The Desperate Father said. "My body filled with pain and poison, after being beaten over and over again, and any strip of my pride and dignity, burned. Marked hers...she'll repeat this process with all of us until she is either bored with us, or we are nothing but slaves to her image. She...she threatened me, if I tried to hurt her, Cain would rip my son in half. I...I'm her slave. I can't let my son die because of my actions." The Desperate Father said.

"Another one falls, I guess." Hank said.

"Huh?" The Desperate Father answered back.

"If you give into her, she will win. If you resist, you win. They don't kill family members. I know their mindset, they can use the family members against people over and over again, to make someone more and more miserable. But maybe you shouldn't listen to me...as I'm not better than you. I am trapped here, and they have my daughter probably. But ask yourself, what are the chances of you and your son leaving this place, alive, and together?" Hank asked.

"What made you like this? Bleak...with no hope?" The Desperate Father asked.

"Over a year of being here. Victor boasts how I'm one of the few most recent people to survive this long, physically and mentally." Hank said.

"Emotionally?" The Desperate Father asked.

"Doesn't matter. Pretty much dead inside. My daughter is being kept from me." Hank said.

"So...no hope?" The Desperate Father asked.

"As I said...hope is a mark. But, if you lose all hope, they win. Because I've survived so long, I'd say I probably have an ounce of it hidden away." Hank said. "But who knows how long that will lost. It'll probably just get worse and worse as time goes on." Hank said, depressingly. "I haven't even been out of this room for I don't know how long. Others are able to roam the halls...but I've seen them. Either physically wounded, or brainwashed. They won't let threats out...like me." Hank said.

"Threat?" The Desperate Father said.

"Yes. I've already seen it in Victor's eyes. He's a good liar, as I can see the fear, the tiny little thought roaming his head. Hey, maybe this one will be able to rise up and beat me at my own game? That thought hasn't expanded...not yet, as he hasn't even used my daughter against me. Not yet. But sure enough, soon..." Hank said. "...I wasn't completely honest with you. There was a woman thrown in here before they threw you in here." Hank said.

"A woman?" The Desperate Father said, curious.

"She was in the same predicament that we are both currently stuck in and surrounded by. She was the first person I had a conversation in I don't even know how long. And I said person. Victor, he's nowhere near a person. We became friends...I felt happy for the first time since before I stumbled upon this god damned mansion." Hank looked down, and stopped talking.

The Desperate Father simply waited silently for Hank to say something.

"...I should have known. I should have predicted it. I should have realized what they were doing. You see...I told you not to show your hope, because it's easier to be told, than taught. I...was taught. They allowed her to talk with me, they allowed us to become friends. Then...one day. I woke up." Hank yet again stopped.

"...She didn't. I rolled her over...then I saw it. Victor had carved his name into her. The image, was burned into my mind. She died because of me. If I hadn't talked to her, if I didn't become friends with her...I ask myself, would she still be alive? Or is being dead really the better option of the living in this place?" Hank shook his head.

"...That's why..." The Desperate Father said.

"Yeah. I didn't adopt this mindset by choice. It was carved into me." Hank said. "I actually got a hold of Victor when he came in the next day. I was filled with rage, for that long. I simply stared at the door, waiting. I knew Victor would come and dispose of his handiwork. Wouldn't send Cain. Wanted to see the look on my face himself. I got a few blows on him. If Cain hadn't been there, I would have ended his life, right there and then." Hank said.

Suddenly, the metal door swung open. Cain was standing in the frame.

"Ninety fo-Hank." Cain said, quickly correcting himself. It had caught Hank's attention immediately.

"How do you even know my actual name?" Hank asked.

"I know. She's been talking about how it'll be your time soon. So I'm taking you to the Vault." Cain said.

Hank had a look of confusion on his face.

"I know you will resist and even succeed in killing her. But at the same time, I do not want you to die. This is the only solution...as I cannot let you kill her." Cain said, suddenly grabbing and pulling Hank up to his feet, with no warning and with only one hand.

"Can...I go too? I know if she doesn't have him, she'll pick me again..." The Desperate Father begged.

"I don't think you would be anywhere near capable of killing her. No." Cain said. "...I may be helping you, but I cannot have it appear like I am." Cain said, suddenly reducing Hank to his knees, and began to drag him. He slammed shut and locked the metal door before they continued onwards to the basement. They went down the stairs, and then went into the hallway that led from the basement to the cellar, which had the metal door that Hank had seen originally.

"Wait, I thought the Vault door needed the password that only Victor has?" Hank said.

"The door's already open. I don't know how, or who is down there, but here. I would give you something stronger as the beasts of the original Doctor are probably still down there and maybe alive." Cain said, handing a sharp but small knife to Hank.

"...Also because you don't want to risk me turning against you?" Hank said.

"Yes, and because again, Victor does not know I'm doing this. Victor told everyone who isn't chained by chains or the collar in this mansion that the Vault is off-limits, as again, it is a graveyard of our pasts. But I know there is something down there, that will expose the truth. I only have theories, but...and plus, you can find that small of a knife pretty much everywhere around the mansion but if I hand you a super sledge-" Cain was interrupted by Hank.

"It's off-limits, but conveniently, someone's down there right before I go down there? And also, what made you so distrustful of your brother?" Hank asked.

"I never said that there isn't some who would disregard of Victor's rules. I mean, look at me right now. And what made me so distrustful of him? Maybe because it's the whole, we're supposed to be brothers, but I'm going to use you as a weapon, issue?" Cain said.

"...Good point." Hank said.

"The door here leads to a ladder down into the vault itself, then there is a door you can only open if you know the password to the terminal for it, but as I said, it's already open. The actual entrance to the Vault, is sealed, so there's no fear of escaping. Not to mention your collar that will explode." Cain said.

"Isn't that what everyone says about the entrances of Vaults?" Hank asked.

"Yes, but 59...they truly never intended for the door to open again. That's why so many of us...them...lost hope. But Victor, chose a few...gave them hope to overcome the misery of 59. He knew of the secret entrance, and he knew the guards' patrols, when to strike, where to ambush them...we killed all of them. The Dwellers, without a leader, attacked us, as they didn't know anything else but the Overseer's cruelty. Even though it was a bad life, it was the only life they ever knew. So...we...I..." Cain paused, as if it was hard to say it, looking down at his hands.

"I...killed all of them. Children, women, men...Victor, he suffocated the babies in front of their parents, enraged the fact even though he overthrew the Overseer, they still attacked us. I would have turned against Victor right there and then, but...but he holds power over me. Still does. A memory, that I have chose to cast aside...as it created a fire so strong inside...I would be eventually overtaken by it. I would let all of it go, all of this go. But I can't. I am a dog on a leash, and the leash is the memory I refuse to remember. But unlike a dog...I am aware of it." Cain ranted.

"Letting go of your memories, won't make anything better...but, I believe I already told you that." Hank said.

"Yes you did. And again, don't bring this up until...until you feel like I feel. If you...find out whatever I did that still...still plagues me, and try to chain me with it like Victor, or even tell me what I did in an attempt to "help me get past it", and I will make you suffer until eternity ends. When it does end, I will hang you from the top of the mansion. Now go. Be warned, some parts of the Vault may not be lit...but I'm sure you're used to the darkness, by now." Cain said, opening the door.

"I figured you would come to watch me, so I don't try anything." Hank said.

"Too many memories down there. Though, I can see through you. You want me to come with you for extra protection, but some things need to be done, alone. Plus, I already walked that road...still walking it." Cain said, closing and locking the door behind Hank.

"I will be checking this door several times each day. If you don't resurface by the time she loses interest in you, I will descend and find you, even though I don't want to step down there again. I'll find you even if you somehow tunnel through the great sealed door of 59 itself." Cain said through the door. Hank turned away from the door, and faced what was ahead of him. There was a ledge, and a ladder that he could see the top of, slightly above the ledge. He looked over the ledge...it looked as if it was a long way down, and the further down, the darker it was.

He was already under ground level, how far would this Vault be underground? Hank carefully stepped onto the ladder, and began to descend, holding onto the ladder as hard as he could, because if he fell, he's either dead or majorly injured when he hits the bottom. Suddenly his left foot went down for the next step, but the next step wasn't there. The ladder was missing a step. His heart began to beat rapidly fast as he realized it. He cautiously extended his left leg after he had caught himself, to find the next step that WAS there.

He sighed of relief, when he got to it. See, Hank was majorly afraid of heights. Sure he was going down to enter an underground Vault, but he was far away from the floor, and on a unreliable pre-war ladder probably made of scrap metal. He reached the bottom despite the fear getting at him, and at least the bottom was partly illuminated by the terminal that was linked to the metal door that led inside to the Vault. Though, the door was already wide open, as Cain said, but he still got on the terminal. There were two things, close and lock option, and an entry that was titled, "Hank." Obviously Hank selected the entry, as it had to have been Edward...how he got Victor's password, Hank had no clue. He read the entry, curious about Edward's motives...and why he was leaving Hank's journal's pages behind for him.

_"I know you are here, as am I. I saw you from afar, as you ran through the darkness. Well, more to it than that actually. I apologize for what I did, but I had to find this place. I was one of the factors who ended your barbaric tribe, I am the one who have left pages of Hank Arroz's tainted past behind in this hell, I am the one who killed your caravan, and I was the one who took your daughter, and I was the one who gave her to these demons. If it matters, which I doubt as you're probably enraged at me right now (which I can understand), but I needed not only me, but also you to get in this place. We will meet soon. Retribution, will eventually pay me back. I know you'll find me in this Vault...full of skeletons, from a mass murder that was caused originally by it's leader, not the rebellious citizens. Seems right, in a terrible kind of way."_ The entry read.

"...Why would he want to bring me into this place, and why use my daughter to lure me?" Hank said to himself, frustrated and very angry after reading the note of Edward on the terminal.

_**End of Day 500: Entering the Graveyard**_

* * *

**The plot thickens! Ah...that's a...a cliche. I'm ashamed of myself. Ahem, anyhow, into the Vault we go, and Edward's role begins to become clearer. Actually, more shrouded. Well...trying to think of how to put it. It's added onto, but it's not any more clear, but shrouded. Welp, to the next one, right?**

**Adios.**

**~TGG333**


	28. Day 500: The Halls of The Dead

**Day 500: The Halls Of The Dead**

He walked through the door, away from the terminal. There was only light in this room. There were several skeletons, which only had dried blood on them. The skeletons had been picked clean by an infestation of radroaches, Hank only knew this, as he had already seen two radroaches...though...they seemed as if they were righting over something. It looked as if they were trying to play tug of war with another radroach's head...did they turn on each other for food, once they picked the bodies clean? The radroaches dropped it instantly when they noticed Hank just standing there and watching, as he was not only fresh meat but human meat.

The first radroach leaped through the air for Hank, but Hank slammed his knife through the radroach's head. The second one he simply stomped to death. He looked around, shrugged, and picked up the dead radroach with his knife in its head and began to gnaw on it's soft underbelly. Granted, it tasted awful, but after days of eating nothing at all, the radroach tasted decent. He ripped the knife out of the radroach he had ate a part of, dropped it, and continued on.

Cain was serious about the Vault being a graveyard, as the halls w ere completely full of skeletons. Some of the skulls and other bones of the skeletons were entirely smashed into pieces.

Hank sighed as he found yet another set of journal pages which was attached to the wall by a single string. He decided he would read them later. Hank found another message from Edward on the wall behind where the journal pages were.

"I know you are angry at me, but you must believe me. I need your help. If not, you and your daughter will both die. Both of you were already set on this path...not by me. I simply altered the route to be in our favor. If we work together, we will be able to stop them. I will give you your past back. Then, after they are dead, you and your daughter saved, you can give me what I want...no, need." The note read.

"What does he mean...? He lured me here with my daughter, to help kill these assholes?" Hank knew there had to be more than that. Hank suddenly heard a roar come from behind him, and turned around to meet a minotaur.

"Here? Gotta be fucking kidding-" Hank couldn't finish what he was saying, as the minotaur sent him flying through the hallway. He hit the ground, and realized he had landed right next to the skeleton of what used to be a Vault security guard. He quickly grabbed the 10mm pistol from the skeleton's cold dead hands. It was still loaded, so he fired all of it's rounds straight into the minotaur's face.

The minotaur fell to the ground dead.

"God damn..." Hank grumbled while getting up. He walked over to the dead minotaur and investigated it. On his chest was carved, "59."

"So they originated from here...fantastic." Hank said, now irritated. He started walking through the halls again, and came to a class room's window. There were rows of empty desks, a teacher's desk that was covered with an assortment of melee weapons, a chalkboard, with ten questions wrote on the board uner what looked like a test of some kind, but that was because it WAS a test.

"O.B.E.Y. test."

"O-bedience  
B-etray and die  
E-qual but no power  
Y-ou serve the Overseer."

The questions followed that.

"I. If the Overseer needs one of your possessions, what do you do?

A. Give him it.  
B. Give him it and even more!  
C. Do not give it."

"II. Someone in your family has been proved of treachery against the Overseer, thus, they committed treachery against the Vault, and you know about it. What do you do?

A. Realize that they were the one who did it, and simply be a bystander of the whole ordeal.  
B. Help them kill or torture the traitor.  
C. Help your relative."

"III. Someone is attacking the overseer!

A. Try to help the Overseer, but not harm either party.  
B. Take the harm for the Overseer.  
C. Help the attacker."

"IV. Someone you know committed a crime against the overseer and you have evidence that would CONDEMN the violator. What do you do?

A. Leave the evidence where you found it. If they find it, then they find it.  
B. CONDEMN THE TRAITOR!  
C. Burn it, saving the person you know."

"V. Someone has began to spout treacherous lies about the Overseer, what do you do?

A. Tell them politely that they shouldn't say things like that.  
B. Sneak behind him, and suffocate him.  
C. Join him."

"VI. God or the Overseer?

A. Both  
B. God or the Overseer? The Overseer IS God.  
C. Definitely not the Overseer, unless the question is negative but I think you mean positive."

"VII. Your friend is talking about betraying the Overseer!

A. That's a bit of a bad idea, friend.  
B. ARE YOU CRAZY? NO TRAITOR IS A FRIEND OF MINE! GUARDS!  
C. Let's stab him in the back together."

"VIII. All hail the Overseer!

A. If you want to praise him that much, that's you.  
B. Yes, let us all hail the master.  
C. More like, "All hang the Overseer in the arium", am I right?"

"IX. The Overseer has ordered death to your teacher.

A. Seems a little harsh, but I don't make the rules.  
B. Bye teach!  
C. YOU WON'T...ah, fuck it, I dislike the Overseer, but I don't care for you either."

"X. A rebel faction has formed in the Vault.

A. Neighborhood's going to hell.  
B. Help bring down the Resistance.  
C. Join the Resistance."

There was an extra question written beneath the last one, but not with chalk, but...blood.

"XI. THE FLYING BANANAS! THEY CAN'T TALK!

A. MY TOASTER TALKS TO ME HE WILL SAVE US FROM THE MUTE AERIAL BANANAS!  
B. THE SECRET WEAPON OF MEHRUNE DAGON IS HIDDEN DEEP WITHIN ME, I WILL CARVE INTO MY CENTER WITH THIS SPOON TO REACH IT!  
C. No Jesus, all I wanted to do was talk to Satan, I wasn't conspiring against you to get crucified the second time.  
H. Look, you can say all you want about forks, but they're much more trustable than spoons."

"What...what the hell..." Hank said, reading the answers of the last question. It was no doubt added in the period of all the killing that went on in this Vault. Hank had remembered that Cain had said the school only taught certain people in the Vault, but there was a lot of small skeletons still at the desks.

He walked to the teacher's desk, and saw a slip of paper next to the melee weapons. The note read,

"Answer key: Answer A mostly with some B's and no C's, they get to remain in school, have some of the best occupations in the Vault. Answer with one or two C's, torture, and will have the lowest and most meaningless occupations in the Vault. Three C's to seven C's, death. Seven C's and up to ten C's, slow and painful death. On the rare occasion of if there is a large amount of C people, then they will all just get the quick beheading route, or stuffed into the incinerator."

"Well...I know this Vault must have been a blast to live in." Hank said.

The melee weapons on the desk included a razor sharp cleaver, a nail board, and several knives.

"Bit excessive for children..." Hank said. He discarded the small knife he had gotten from Cain away, and picked up the razor sharp cleaver. "This is definitely better." Hank said. He then remembered he had used up all the ammo of the 10mm pistol he had gotten on one minotaur. "Worthless." Hank said, discarding the pistol. He walked out of the classroom and continued walking through the dead Vault until he came to a larger metal door, and the sign above it said, "Experiment Sector Part A."

There was a path around, but it was blocked by a barricade that they must have made during the fall of the Vault.

Hank took a deep breath, and opened the door. He expected more minotaurs, but it was a radroach. Though it wasn't just a small radroach, it was a colossal sized one. It's original cage was trashed, it must have broken out of it a long time ago. There were a pile of skeletons in front of the cage. There were several crates in the left side of the room, labeled F, E, V...FEV?

The crates were smashed open, and there were large metal tanks near the smashed open crates. All of them empty, and left open...

The colossal radroach turned around towards Hank, and it was obvious that the colossal radroach had drank all of the tanks' contents. Though that was mainly because it was still drinking from one when it turned around. Green liquid was pouring out of the tank and into the radroach's mouth. The radroach finished drinking all of it, and threw it across the room.

Then Hank realized for it to throw a large metal tank across the room, that means it has arms. A colossal radroach, with arms. Great.

"Holy...first one of you I've seen for a long time." The colossal radroach said.

"This has to be the most bat shit insane and absurd thing I've seen in my entire life." Hank said.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah...there was a real fucked up Doctor a long time ago...oh, let's take one of the roaches and try to drown it in FEV. That's the best idea ever, Doctor! I grew huge because when they were trying to drown me in it, I drank that shit. Plus I absorbed some by being in it. I grew huge, drank a shit more ton of FEV, and I'm now the, GREATEST RADROACH EVER! And my name's Bob." Bob the Colossal Radroach yelled.

"Is...this real?" Hank asked, thinking it might be another vision.

"OF COURSE! Did you see how I sent that thing I threw a minute ago? It flew threw the air so fast! FWEE! That is the found of flying! Well, I think. Maybe. I don't know. I live in an underground Vault, I've never even seen the sky...but fuck the sky, roaches only need darkness." Bob the Colossal Radroach said.

"You're not very smart, are you?" Hank asked.

"But...aren't you amazed? I'm not only giant, but I can talk! And I have arms! Hell, I didn't even know I had vocal cords! Probably didn't. I don't know. Most of my tiny brethren don't even know how to go backwards! So they have to turn around entirely, and that's if they remember even to turn! RETARDS! All of them!" Bob the Colossal Radroach mocked.

"Speaking of...tiny brethren...why are their empty shells on the floor, everywhere in here?" Hank asked.

"I was about to get to that before you said I wasn't smart. Rude guy walking into my home like he owns the place. And I kind of had to eat some of them in here before. I would have starved if not, but now they know not to come in here anymore, which is shocking as they don't even know how to move backwards, and because of my immense and impressive size, I cannot go through any of those tiny ridiculous FUCKING STUPID doors. You're the first other living that's been in here for a while, so my bad for this." Bob the Colossal Radroach said.

"For what?" Hank asked.

"Well, for this." Bob said, suddenly charging for Hank, but Hank had simply stepped to the side. As Bob was still running towards where Hank was until he met the wall, Hank ran for the door that led past the Colossal Radroach's den. He slid out into the hallway, having escaped Bob.

"Wait! Come back inside! I have cookies! Come on, please, I'M HUNGRY, DO A RADROACH A FAVOR!" Bob cried, looking through the still open Vault door at a fleeing Hank.

**_End of Day 500: The Halls Of The Dead_**

* * *

**The legendary radroach! I was going to do it eventually. Plus, most of my fanfictions have some sort of humor at some point of time...ANDoM has been humorless so far, because that's...well, it's ANDoM. So I figured, "Why not?". Which is also another reason for the 11th question of the OBEY test. The minotaurs originate from the very same Vault that Hank's currently stuck in...Edward's role in the plot is thickening...and I think that's about it.**

**So yep, adios, and onto the next one.**

**~TGG333**


	29. Journal V: The Duel And a Fool

**Journal V: The Duel and a Fool**

Hank sighed, having seen enough for the day, but he still had to continue, walking through the hallway and further into the Vault. He made it to a door that said, "Experiment Sector Part B." He readied himself, and opened the door. Hank walked into it, and he quickly saw it was overran with minotaurs. There were dead ones on operating tables in the center of the room, and Hank had read a note that was attached to one of them before the minotaurs saw him that said,

"I don't know what I did last night, or, more importantly, HOW I did this, but note to all future historians looking back at this day in this dust covered Vault. SCIENCE CAN MAKE MYTHOLOGY REAL! No fuck that, I MAKE IT REAL! Impossible to splice two species together with them still being alive, they said, completely immoral and you'd probably fail, they said. BUT WHO'S LAUGHING NOW? Note, remember the process I did that I can't remember because I was drunk last night. I think it's obvious that it's a Vault Dweller, plus preserved Bull DNA, plus a tad touch (well maybe a lot) of FEV. I just have to remember how I put the puzzle pieces together and made them alive. Though, they can reproduce, so it's not like they're gone after the original ones die."

Hank quickly made a dash through the lab, evading minotaurs, when he got to the door that led out, he dived through it, and quickly closed it behind him. Hank sighed, as the minotaurs would surely be waiting for him on his trip back through. He passed several other doors that led to other experimenting sectors, the all of the doors were sealed. Then again, maybe that was for the best of everyone. After a bit, Hank made it to another stairwell. He walked down the first few, and came to another message from Edward, and some more journal pages attached to the wall with a knife.

"The tribe, needed to die, that was obvious. What Hank made them...what you, made them...I apologize, I've had these words locked in my head for so long, I forget I'm actually... leaving these messages for you, now. What you made them into, was a violent disease, that would have spread until it infested every place, corner, cave, metro, building...until everything else died. I... had to stop it, other factors joined in, some that I caused, some, you yourself caused. We will both die Hank, I assure you."

Hank shook his head at the insane sounding messages, and grabbed the journal pages. He began to read through the journal pages like all the others.

* * *

_"Today, I finished my creation. The Deathclaw Gauntlet. It took some tweaking, but I finally finished it, and made it perfect for my right arm. Not only that, I reinforced my tribal armor with some of the deathclaw's hide. Thick, durable, and of course, light. Good, as most of our tribe wears light armor. Then the teeth, I ripped them out which took much more effort than I thought, and put them at the ends of new spears. If they can tear through flesh with their teeth, then why wouldn't we be able to use their teeth at the end of spears to fuck up an enemy? Very effective, but as I previously explained, why wouldn't they be? Might even change the tribe's name at this rate. As we're going to start using these creatures for all our tribe. The meat...no good, though if it really comes down to it, and we run out of our normal food, we'll turn into very small helpings of it. Keep it not spoiled using pre-war freezing machines we scavenged and kept. The bones of the mother...I'm still thinking of a way to make them useful. My best friend thinks it's barbaric, but they're mindless beasts! We need to keep their numbers down anyways, but by this, I'm also helping out the tribe. Though all of that aside, now, one of the other tribes, are knocking at my gate, demanding a duel. The Blood-Spillers' best warrior, against our leader...myself. How primitive, but I will give them what they want, plus, it's a good time to test out my gauntlet."_

_(the next pages detailed what happened afterwards)_

* * *

Men in red, light, and metal armor stood in front of Hank's tribe's base, pounding on the gate.

"We challenge the leader of your tribe! Our best warrior stands ready to spill his blood all over the grass of this land! Win, and we will you be. Lose, and you must give us a worthy offering or else. Be a coward however, and stay behind your walls? All our warriors will return with us, and take it down! Brick by fucking brick!" The Blood-Spiller chanter yelled.

Hank, the Caretaker, and Jero were all in Hank's quarters. The Caretaker and Jero were simply standing and waiting for Hank to finish preparing himself.

"Could be a trap." The Caretaker said.

"Trap or not, we need to answer fucking soon." Jero said.

"I will give them my answer in person." Hank said, stepping into the room Jero and the Caretaker had been waiting in, now fully donning the first suit of deathclaw armor, and the first deathclaw gauntlet.

"You look...very fucking terrifying, but I'll still punch you in the fucking mouth, you whelp. As I know what you're going to do, you're going to go down there, kill their warrior, make a whole fucking show of it, and then declare war on the Blood-Spillers." Jero said.

"I still don't think using that Deathclaw mother's carcass like that is right." The Caretaker said.

"Right or not right, it doesn't matter. And Jero, all I'm going to do is give them a message." Hank said.

"If you write down "fuck you" and send it as a message to somebody, most likely it's going to start a fight. If you dismember a Blood-Spiller and send their limbs back to Reaver, it most likely will start a whole fucking tribal war." Jero said.

"Let them start a war, I'll kill each and every fucking one of them. Their tribe is nothing but savages." Hank said.

They call could hear the Blood-Spillers' consistent yells.

"We're not leaving until you at least fucking answer us!"

Hank walked out of his quarters, and headed for the gate, with Jero and Caretaker following him. Hank signaled to the tribals standing in front of the gate, and they pulled it open for Hank.

"Well, well, well! So he decided to show his face after all!" One of the Blood-Spillers laughed, having heard the gate open, then, he and the rest of them saw how Hank looked.

"What hell did you put on your armor...? And do you have a Demon claw as a hand...?" A surprised Blood-Spiller asked.

"Part Demon, or no, my spear will pierce him right through his heart." The Blood-Spiller warrior said, ready to duel.

"You wanted a duel? Then let's have one." Hank said.

"Brave! Hah! Stupid." Another, but yet much more stupid Blood-Spiller said.

"Alright, come on, dead man!" The Blood-Spiller warrior taunted.

The other Blood-Spillers backed up, and so did Jero and Caretaker. Hank was already prepared and ready for the Blood-Spiller warrior, and knew that he was going to instantly try to charge towards him. Predicting his move correctly, Hank stepped to the side. The Blood-Spiller caught himself before he ran into Jero and Caretaker, and roared with rage. He swung his spear for Hank, but he was too agile, comparing to the Blood-Spiller warrior.

"Quit moving coward!" The Blood-Spiller warrior yelled. Hank continued to dodge over and over again. Eventually the Blood-Spiller began to feel fatigue, as Hank's speed burned the warrior's stamina off.

Hank laughed, as it was finally time to test out his gauntlet. He ran around behind the Blood-Spiller, and swung the claw as hard as he could towards his back. The claw got through his armor, and blood began to leak from the openings in his back armor.

"Agh! You little asshole! How did...my armor..." The Blood-Spiller mumbled, and then let out an angry yell, still not done. He charged towards Hank, but Hank simply stood and waited for him. This confused the Blood-Spiller warrior. When he got close enough, Hank brought the claw up at the right time, as if he was doing an uppercut. The claw went up and through the Blood-Spiller's throat, killing him instantly. The warrior's corpse fell right onto the ground.

"You...you killed him. He brought down a whole attacking tribe's army by himself!" One of the Blood-Spillers exclaimed.

"Two choices. One, you absolve yourself of the Blood-Spillers, and pledge loyalty to our tribe. Two, you don't, and I kill you." Hank said. "Actually...you, the little one. Go back and tell your tribe of what has happened here. No secrets, no lies. The one who does lie and hide, will die. It's one of our codes we live by." Hank said.

"I join Demon Claw." The much more stupid Blood-Spiller said, kneeling to Hank. "Not fear, but, respect Demon Claw." He said.

The others exchanged looks of uncertainty with each other.

"He will kill us for returning as failures." One of them said.

"And then feed our corpses to his dog." Another Blood-Spiller said.

"Not to mention the part where I kill you before you even make it back to be killed by your master, and then fed to his dog." Hank said.

The Blood-Spiller soldiers were both silent, but after a few seconds, they knelt to Hank as well.

"You know that this will only result in war, right?" Caretaker said.

"I killed their best soldier, already, in one on one combat. What are their normal warriors going to be like?" Hank said.

"Hey! I fight good!" One of the surrendered Blood-Spillers said, resenting Hank's comment.

"You fight good...for a Blood-Spiller, but now you Bear the Claw. Now, you are a Claw-Bearer." Hank said.

"Our tribe finally has a name again? Last one died with your father...literally, as I don't even remember it." Jero said.

"No! We shouldn't get yet another name for our tribe! If we don't have a name, then we are just a community to others, making it less likely for a war!" Caretaker said, resisting this idea.

"Communities, are destroyed, and burned away. We are the Claw-Bearers, and we will be until I'm done as leader!" Hank yelled at Caretaker. "...Come on. We will burn your dead comrade, like everyone else. Honor even our adversaries after they lose the ability to live. Another code, we abide." Hank said, taking the new Claw-Bearer initiates inside, with Jero and the Caretaker.

The Caretaker stopped following them however, and then went to his home. He opened the door and ran to the deathclaw egg as soon as he noticed the tiny claw that had broke through the eggshell. The baby deathclaw completely destroyed it's egg, wanting freedom. The baby deathclaw's eyes opened, and it saw the Caretaker. As if it was not what it expected to see, he scurried through the remains of his egg and away from the Caretaker, as if afraid of him. The Caretaker had an idea. He quickly went to his food container, opened it, and grabbed some frozen mole rat meat. He put it over a flame, until it thawed enough. Then he extended the mole rat meat towards the baby Deathclaw, and it acted as if it was unsure of the Caretaker's intentions. But eventually it ran to it, and took it from him gnawing on it.

"See...? I knew you wouldn't be that bad..." The Caretaker said.

**Journal V: The Duel and a Fool**

* * *

**Getting a little bit tired, I'm not even going to lie...**

**Adios, and onto the next one...**

**~TGG333**


	30. Torment II: I Will Break Him

**Torment II: I Will Break Him**

Cain was suffering because of a rather bad headache, the day after he had made Hank go to the Vault under the mansion. He stared at himself in the mirror of the bathroom. The mirror was cracked, but all Cain did was continue staring at himself in the mirror. He had his mask off, yet again, but he didn't care. No matter how much he closed his eyes, Victor, who was standing behind him, wouldn't go away, Cain knew it wasn't real as Victor wouldn't stand there for that long without saying whatever he wanted from Cain. Yet with every second that Cain saw Victor's reflection in the mirror enraged him even more, and eventually he couldn't hold it, and he launched his bare right fist into the cracked mirror.

Glass went everywhere, and blood from Cain's hand was dripping and running down his arm. Cain grabbed his mash and put it back on, and stared down at the blood of his arm, and he began to remember another moment of his life that wouldn't leave him alone.

* * *

_"Please, don't!" The man screamed, as Cain grabbed his blood covered right arm._

_"Do it." The Overseer said, watching it from above in the atrium turned arena. The Vault Dweller cried and cried, shaking his head over and over, all while screaming no. Cain pulled the Vault Dweller's arm enough to pull it out of the socket, and completely broke it. The Vault Dweller screamed and screamed, he fell to the ground due to the sheer pain of having his arm entirely broken._

_"Good Thirteen... I have had troubling news about you, however...a part of a rebel faction? My own right hand? Well, I'm sorry Thirteen, but this recording has condemned you." The Overseer said, suddenly playing a recording on his pip-boy._

_"Are you sure about this? I don't want to join your faction if it means an instant target on my back, but...I can't do The Overseer's murdering for him much longer."_

_"This is the only way we'll become free from that horrible man, Cain."_

_The recording ended, and the Overseer's eyes had a look of disgust to them._

_"I've killed innocent people for years for you, and you wave all that away after hearing one recording off of your god damned wrist accessory!" Cain yelled at the Overseer._

_"Not just a recording. Your own voice, and not only that, whichever other traitor you were speaking with you said your non-Vault name! You think I am an idiot! Even if it turns out you declined the offer to become a traitor, that means you have been hiding knowledge about those traitors this entire time. Either way, my hands are tied, Thirteen." The Overseer said, suddenly doing a motion with his hand in the air. Cain looked behind him and saw two security guards to his right, four security guards in the middle, and three security guards to the left._

_"I've done so much for you...you've taken so much from me, and now you're going to kill me?" Cain yelled, enraged. He was hit with a cattle prod from behind, Cain growled when he was being electrocuted. "I'll kill every last one of you...I WILL FILL THIS ENTIRE VAULT WITH YOUR BLOOD!" Cain screamed, his voice changing suddenly. He overcame the pain of the first cattle prod, and when a second one hit his side, Cain suddenly reached back and grabbed a hold of the guard who first shocked him, swung him around through the air, and hit the second guard who had shocked him._

_Then all of the guards jumped into the conflict, electrocuting Cain as well, and after a while, Cain was brought down to one knee. But even though Cain had been electrocuted for a while, he got right back up. He grabbed a hold of several of the guards' limbs, and breaking them like the Vault Dweller's right arm before._

_"You know what...take his mask off." The Overseer suddenly commanded, knowing what Cain's reaction would be. He had heard this, and got a new burst of energy, as he would not allow them to take his mask off._

_"No matter what, do not take the mask off." Victor's voice echoed in Cain's mind._

_He was able to knock many of the guards away and through the air just by using his sheer force. They kept trying though, the ones who hadn't any of their limbs broken anyways. One was lucky though, and managed to sneak up behind Cain, jump on his back, and grab a hold of his mask._

_"NO!" Cain screamed, as the guard on his back managed to pull his mask off before Cain sent him flying through the air. Cain instantly began to scream when he realized the guard had successfully gotten his mask off. He looked at the Overseer, having all of the hatred inside of his heart lit yet again._

_"Good God...those burns, you were the child who had survived the incinerator all those years ago...but the records said they fucking killed you after recording you as number twelve...then again, you could have been with those traitors from the start, and they could have falsified my records..." The Overseer said, insanely. "GET HIM!" He commanded his guards._

_"I didn't survive the incinerator, no, it killed me. Just like how you killed my father." Cain laughed insanely. "Give me my mask back!" Cain yelled at the guard who was on the ground cowering in fear, still having a hold of Cain's mask. The guards who still standing and some who had came to reinforce the guard force were fearful of Cain, having seen all the incapacitated guards. A few still were obedient even though they were extremely terrified. Cain grabbed the first one who got to him by the throat, lifted him up into the air, and then slammed him onto the bare metal floor of the Atrium. He did nothing but twitch in pain. Cain still targeted the guard that was still holding his mask. The guards who had been charging at Cain stopped quickly after seeing what had been done to the first guard. Cain charged at the one holding his mask and pulled him from the ground right into the air. While holding him in front of him, he charged towards the metal wall in front of him. The guard impacted with the metal wall hard enough that he died from the said impact._

_Cain grabbed his mask and put it right back on, even though the Overseer already knew his secret. He turned around, and for the first time, the Overseer's merciless guards were truly terrified. They all ran out of the atrium, abandoning the Overseer with Cain. Cain immediately set his sights on the Overseer, who was also truly terrified._

_"Your father was a traitor, Cain!" The Overseer yelled._

_"You call me by my, how'd you put it...? Non-Vault name now? But aren't I just your dog!" Cain yelled as he walked towards the Overseer._

_"Not all dogs are just dogs!" The Overseer yelled, as he scrambled away from the berserk Cain._

_"So what, now you're trying to flatter me by saying while I'm a mutt, that you use to chase down all you wish to die, I'm an intelligent mutt?" Cain yelled._

_"You're not a mutt,Cain! You're not!" The Overseer cried as Cain got closer and closer to him._

_"I refuse to be used as a dog anymore! The only way I'll be free is cutting off the hand." Cain said, finally cornering the panicking Overseer. The Overseer laughed at what Cain had said, as it was referring to a saying that the Overseer had said to Cain a lot._

_"...That holds the leash." The Overseer said, finishing it. Cain was about to finish it, but suddenly he felt something pierce his side. He looked down and saw a needle full of an unknown liquid in his side. He fell to the ground and passed out due to it, but he still heard voices._

_"I want him DEAD! This time, put him in the incinerator, and if he's still alive this time? Fucking chop __his head off!"_

_"Could be another way. Let's not attempt to kill him with the same exact thing that created the monster. Let us extend his suffering, like the other criminals, father."_

_"I do not want to take any chances with this one! He is dangerous!"_

_"Well of course he's dangerous, you had him as your executioner for Christ's sake!"_

_"Not that type of dangerous you moron! Most of the Vault Dwellers are broken in, they don't question me, they don't think! Even if they do, the torture breaks them. He...has his own will, his own opinion, his own voice, and his own...face. No matter if we ever make him forget he has all t6hose things, he'll simply look at his burns, and remember! And what will torture accomplish? He has the strength and endurance of a goddamned rhinoceros!"_

_"I will break him."_

_"You are very confident if you think that. Therefore you are very fucking stupid."_

* * *

Cain shook his head, breaking free of his memories. He walked out of the bathroom as he needed some fresh air. Cain climbed up the ladder on the top floor and opened the trap door to the roof. He emerged onto the roof, simply sat down, and stared into the sky. The sky was filled with stars, and the moon was full.

He looked to the left of him. The sniper asshole had left his sniper rifle near his lawn chair, again. Cain felt a much different feeling up here...he would say it was peace, but that would just be a lie. Cain almost sighed when he heard what seemed like the same god damned voices each and every time he stepped onto the roof.

"Come on, let's see if anybody lives here, and if there is, we shoot them in their faces. If nobody lives here, then free room and board!"

Cain looked over the edge of the roof, and saw four or five armored men about to try and get on the porch of Cain's home he had been forced repeatedly to protect.

He took a few steps back on the roof, charged, leaped far enough that he went past the top of the porch, and landed on one of the armored men. The others were stunned at what they just saw. Cain simply got up, and stomped repeatedly on the armored man he had landed on's throat, killing him instantly.

"Nobody's home." Cain said.

"Let's kill this goddamned agile masked freak!" One of them stuttered with fear. The armored men charged at Cain, but the result was the same. All of them but one were on the ground covered in their own blood at the end of it. Cain had killed one or two with his hands, then the rest with one of their cleavers, which he had ripped from one of the dead armored men's cold dead hands.

The one still alive but injured tried to crawl away, desperately. But Cain, with no mercy, grabbed the survivor couldn't see what Cain was doing, but he could feel, and hear it. He screamed and screamed, pleading for Cain to stop, but he didn't. He continued to saw off his left leg with the cleaver, until it was finally severed from it's owner. Cain was about to walk away, but he realized that he was still holding the leg. He went back and flipped him over on his back, still ignoring all of his pointless screaming. Then Cain gave him his leg back. His screaming escalated to as high as it could possibly go as he bled out holding his own cut off leg in his hands.

_**Torment II: I Will Break Him**_

* * *

**The second Cain memory. Alright, adios, and onto the next one.**

**~TGG333  
**


	31. Day 500: Face to Face At Last

**Day 500: Face to Face At Last**

Hank was now in the living quarters section of the Vault. Each window he passed was covered in blood, and he was REALLY tired of almost tripping on skeletons that were lying everywhere. Really, how many god damned people lived in this Vault?

Hank didn't know what the hell he was supposed to find down here. As it really was just a graveyard. Then again, the main objective now was to find Edward down here. He came to a hallway that led down four different paths. At the center, there was another blood message left by Edward.

"Come find me, where the hearts of the wicked did not exist, and where they let the blood of the obedient ignorant flow freely. I can't really call them innocent, as they simply allowed their punishment to go on and on, but I guess they were too brainwashed to even care."

Another bunch of journal pages were next to it. But from the message he left, it must mean that Edward is...wherever they had let a lot of blood flow. Coincidentally, one of the four paths had an arrow that said "Torture wing." Couldn't even lie or hide it from the people? Hank walked through the wing not looking into the windows of the rooms. He came to a closed door, which, like everything else, was red with blood. He opened the door, and a room with red lighting became visible. A man with long black hair in a familiar armor was standing at the back of the room.

"The deathclaw armor...so you were one of my...our, tribe. But...I don't remember you. Or did you just scavenge it from the dead?" Hank asked.

"There is a reason for not remembering me, and several other parts of your life. Don't ask me how I know that. We share something, you and I. A past together...meaning, yes, I am from the tribe." Edward said.

"What could we possibly share? If you share my past, then why don't I remember you." Hank said.

"More than you think." Edward said.

"What, exactly?" Hank repeated the question.

"Too complicated to get into right now. Next question that will probably come out of your mouth is why. Why did I bring you into this? Not only do I need your help, but you and I have something to settle. I cannot tell you what however, until the time comes." Edward said.

"You could have asked in person. To give my daughter to those assholes up above...not only is it highly hypocritical of you, it also makes me want to kill you instead of the already mentioned assholes." Hank said.

"I know. I shouldn't have done it, but I had no other choice. They were going to get to you first if I hadn't done what I did, and corrupt you like they have others." Edward said.

"So you brought my daughter to them to lure me right to them instead?" Hank yelled, enraged.

"If Cain would have gotten to you two, he would have killed you AND Emily on the spot. That night he was filled with the same rage he has every other few nights, due to his pain." Edward said.

"Cain's not that bad...though, if he was in pain..." Hank said.

"I know you've been talking with him already, but at that point of time he would have followed Victor's directions completely if he hadn't been enraged. But when he IS enraged, he's just going to brutally murder you. So it would have been a lose lose situation. But if you are able to form an alliance with the beast inside against Victor, then good. His help would be invaluable in our fight." Edward said.

"The caravan...you killed them? You killed a caravan, you dragged my daughter to this place...what the hell happened to your morals?" Hank asked.

"I have them still. Those people were murderers actually, were going to kill you that night in fact. Numerous bodies I found were along the same roads they walked, not to mention they always welcomed people to walk with them. Sadly, that type of generosity usually is a trap I had been following that group for a week or so back then, observing them, waiting for a perfect time to strike, and as for your daughter...I already explained that." Edward said.

"Do you have the rest of my journal?" Hank asked.

"No. I spread the pages all around. You can't learn it all at once, or too fast." Edward said.

"So what now?" Hank asked.

"Actually, now that I think about it, I still have the binding of the journal. Could put the pages in it." Edward said, handing the familiar binding of Hank's journal to him. "And now, we ask any further questions of each other, and then we part ways for now. Why didn't you ever read your journal before all of this?" Edward asked.

"I didn't know my past, didn't care about finding out. I was originally going to read it, but I put it off many times. First time, I found the town I settled into. The second time, I founded a store inside the town. The third time, I met and eventually married my deceased wife. The fourth time, my daughter was born. The fifth time, you and my paths crossed, and you took the book off my hands entirely until now. So with all that's happened now, I figured it was about time to learn my past... the past of myself, Hank Arroz." Hank said.

"Did you get what you expected?" Edward asked.

"...No. I didn't expect that I would be so ruthless, and a leader of tribals..." Hank said.

"Yeah...the past can surprise you some times." Edward said.

"Why me?" Hank asked.

"Again, we have something to settle between each other, plus...would I rather pick some random wastelander or the ex-leader of the once great Claw-Bearers, who was an excellent fighter? I am sorry, but this was my only option. Evil is evil, but Victor and his companions...well, we may as well be in hell itself." Edward said.

"What have they done with my daughter, Edward?" Hank asked, having suspicions.

"Don't worry, they haven't...you know, and they won't until she's older. They're not like the Doctor that I've heard about that the android looked like. All the more reason we need to bring them down as soon as we can." Edward said.

"But still, why not just ask me?" Hank asked.

"Like I said before, they would have gotten to you first, and if I had beat them to getting to you and asked you to help me, it just wouldn't have worked. If you did say yes even though you had your daughter with you, what were we going to do? Take them all on with your daughter behind us? If you actually agreed to allow me to use your daughter as a trap, which no good father would, they could have seen us talking together and would probably kill us both along with your daughter. During the brief period when Victor and his cronies trusted me, I was able to see and scout a lot of this place freely. In fact, I'm sort of surprised that Victor or his cronies hasn't just had Cain kill me already. It's sort of surprising that they wouldn't have him do that, but maybe Cain chose not to? Who knows..." Edward said.

"So the best plan you could come up with is kidnap and give them my daughter as a sacrificial lamb?" Hank yelled.

"For the second time, I had no choice. Doing what I did kept both of you alive. Granted, I brought you to misery itself, but..." Edward said.

Hank turned Edward around, about to punch him, but Edward dodged and knocked Hank to the floor.

"We'll see each other soon Hank. But for now, there's a recording, somewhere in this room that'll allow you to see into the mind of the monster. However, you'll need something to play it on. Luckily for you, there's also a pip-boy in here. Wouldn't take it up there though. Obvious give away that you've been in this tomb, considering you didn't have a pip-boy before up there. I mean, where else would you get it?" Edward said, walking away.

Hank got up, and saw a bloody stretcher which was behind where Edward was originally standing. There was a holotape and a still illuminated pip-boy 3000 around the arm of the skeleton on the bloody stretcher. Hank put the holotape in the pip-boy and it began to play.

* * *

"_You are a monster, Cain."_

"_No, I am not."_

"_You can deny it all you want, but it doesn't change what you are inside. You know what is in your blood. How many people have you killed? How many, Cain? Answer! You're such of a fucking special case that you get called something other than your Vault generated number! Now give me the number I want!"_

"_I...I refuse to answer."_

"_I guess what everyone has said really is true. Your personality is split right down the middle. The person, and the monster. Show me the monster Cain, allow him out!"_

"_No, I refuse..."_

"_Let him out or your sister will-"_

"_Lay a hand on her and I'll break your fucking neck! RAGH! I'll...shove that cattle prod up your—ARGH."_

"_Ah, there he is...how many guards, how many dwellers have you killed, Cain?"_

"_Enough to drown the entire Vault, as I snap your Overseer's little pretty neck...RAAGH!"_

"_What's happening now?"_

"_He's just an animal with a personality disorder...however, I think I have a way to control him."_

"_I...will not be a tool."_

"_You'll be a tool, or you'll be broken, isn't that right Overseer?"_

"_Yes."_

"_You...took her from me. Took my father from me. All I want in this life is now your death."_

"_But oh, what of your sister?"_

"_I'll get her back, then break and rip you into as many pieces as I can."_

"_We'll see." The recording ended there._

* * *

Hank suddenly heard laughing come from behind him as the recording ended.

"My sanity is really starting to deteriorate." Hank said, as he began to chase the source of laughing out of the room and down one of the other paths. He came to the Overseer's Office, and the laughing stopped. The metal door of the Overseer's Office was on the ground and dented. There were several skeletons along with one skeleton that was literally smashed into dust. There was blood messages painted on the walls everywhere.

"I AM A MONSTER."

"I BRING NOTHING BUT DEATH."

"THEY HAVE TAKEN MY SOUL AWAY, SO THE MONSTER WILL RISE."

The overseer's terminal still flickered with light, however the light was under a blanket of dust. Hank walked over and wiped the screen's dust off, and it was actually already unlocked. All the overseer's files had been extracted already, and the originals on the terminal were deleted. Hank selected the option, "Open Tunnel", and the center panel of the floor began to rise, revealing the entrance to aforementioned tunnel.

Hank descended into the dark metal tunnel, cautiously. There was what appeared to be a lone candle that was still lit at the end of the tunnel. Hank realized that Edward was next to the single candle.

"What are you doing here?" Hank asked, curious why Edward remained in the Vault.

"I knew you'd find the tunnel, so I came down as well to explain what's down here." Edward said, opening the metal door in front of them. There was a metal statue in a large circular room. There were numerous metal chains attached to the metal statue, and large metal locks on the chains. The statue itself was a robed, sad, and chained female angel.

"What...is this place?" Hank asked, curious, yet afraid of this chamber.

"There was an old world legend. I don't know if it was pre-war or ancient times. In the legend, the woman that the statue depicted had many siblings, all terrible beings and truly evil. Eventually, they all began to corrupt her, trying to make her like them. After she mustered up enough courage, she rebelled against her horrible siblings, and they caught her, then after a long series of torture and pain, she gave in and became a horrible being like her. Her voice taken away, her dignity and respect stricken from her. She then lost her sanity, the final step in becoming like her siblings, but she was aware of it. So she cut her throat, breaking the chains that bound her for so long. After a while, each of her siblings died off one by one, don't know what killed each of them. Learned the story from a book I found pushed against the statue when I originally found this chamber." Edward said.

"That's horrible." Hank said.

"I don't know if Vault-Tec built it, or who built it, but whoever did it is an ironic bastard. As Cain, Victor, and Victor's pals are sworn in some type of sadistic brotherhood, and each one has a key to each chain. They hid something inside the statue, but unless the chains are unlocked..." Edward said.

"What's in the statue?" Hank asked.

"Something dark, and with the irony between the statue and Cain...no doubt something about his past, I think Cain even has a key, but the purpose of the key was kept a secret from him. He's repeatedly visited this statue, and simply screamed at it over and over again." Edward said.

"Poor Cain. I didn't expect him to be the good one." Hank admitted.

"Not the good one by a long shot, just the most tormented and slavish of them." Edward corrected.

"Can't help but feel bad for him if he's like the one in the story." Hank said.

**End of Day 500: Face to Face At Last**

* * *

**Oh look, Edward, a strange statue, and more mystery. This plot is getting more convulted than ANDoH's, and for that I had four or so Godlike characters running around. But I digress, adios, and onto the last one.**

**~TGG333**


	32. Torment III: First Day of School

**Torment III: First Day of School**

Cain was walking the halls of the first floor of the mansion, back and forth. He stopped when he heard crying, coming from one of the rooms.

"Sister...wake up...sister, don't leave me...what...what did that jackass do to you?"

"Oh how rude, and I was thinking about not poisoning you like your bitch sister."

"You asshole..."

"The poison will make all your worries fade away."

Cain had enough, and walked through the door. A man with gold accessories on wearing a lavish pre-war business suit holding a needle filled with poison to a teenage boy's neck, while the boy had been kneeling over his lifeless sister trying a futile attempt to wake her up.

"Oh Cain, what a surprise, here to interrupt my fun AGAIN?" The man asked.

"What did they have for you to break out the poison, Richard? I know that you only go for the ones that have valuables." Cain said.

"Girl had a jeweled necklace. The boy, he's just annoying me." Richard said.

"You inject him with that poison and you'll regret it." Cain threatened the poison carrying sadistic snob.

"You'll what, kill me if I do? Hah! Oh boy our brother will love that! Why do you even care about this dirty vagrant anyways? Eating out of our trash like RATS! Oh...wait, the boy reminds you of yourself with your sister...do you want to remember everything in it's own grandeur?" Richard asked.

"...No, but I..." Cain was torn, as he wanted to stop Richard but he didn't want his memories.

"But? But if you try to stop me, I'll make you remember everything. How's that for a but?" Richard said, going to inject the boy with his poison. Cain was speechless, and he couldn't bring himself to stop Richard even though he wanted to. The boy was injected with the whole of the poison.

Richard ran past Cain and out of the room laughing sadistically. Cain ran to the boy who was now shaking horribly, as the poison worked it's deadly and horrible magic. The last word that the boy uttered was when he saw Cain again.

"Monster."

Cain began to scream, as he was having another one of his pain filled fits again, as the boy's life was ended by the poison. Even though he left the room he couldn't get the image of the brother and sister dead on the floor out of his head, and he couldn't get the word Monster out of his head either.

* * *

"_To your first day of school, brat." The Vault Dweller said, as he pushed Cain into the classroom that still had students getting in their seats. Cain, instinctively sat down in a seat that wasn't already taken, as the teacher began to speak._

"_Freedom is a lie, the outside world? Gone. Nothing is out there. Our known and only place in the world is this Vault. This, is our world, and we must serve our world, so it can serve us. You think you get to live, exist in the world for free? No, you must earn your place, and if you don't? You get wiped away, and replaced. The ruler, the keeper, the God of this world? The Overseer. He keeps the Vault safe and running and maintained. There is a group that say he does nothing, and it's the Dwellers that do everything. Don't get me wrong, Dwellers help, but they don't do as much as the Overseer. Why, without the Overseer the Vault would simply fall apart. We must serve the Overseer to serve the Vault. Now you all are here today to take the O.B.E.Y. Test, and I was told that we have three late birds taking the test. Interesting...I don't know why you are taking the O.B.E.Y. Test this late, or why two of you I have never seen in this classroom before. But for now, I do not care, as you are here, and taking the test now." The teacher spoke in front of the class as he passed out the test. Young Cain heard a younger child whisper to another child,_

"_I'm just going to answer with all C's. Most of the answers on his stupid tests are C."_

_Cain was still getting used to the mask on his face. He was surprised, as apparently a lot of children wore the same type of masks, he did not know why. He finished before the rest of them, so he waited until everybody else was done. The teacher collected all of the tests, including his own._

"_Don't get up, I'm grading them right now." The teacher said. He began to look through the tests quickly. There was an atmosphere of fear and nervousness in the classroom all around Cain. The teacher finished, and looked up as if with a look of disappointment._

"_...Six. Six to-be-rebels. SIX! In all years of teaching I have never gotten more than two! Three of them are the late birds as I expected! Meaning not only have their parents violated the law by keeping their children from the O.B.E.Y. Test, they've also been raising their children as rebels." The teacher said, enraged. "GUARDS!"_

_Three guards ran into the classroom, and each one grabbed two children, including Cain. The teacher opened a secret panel in the wall next to the chalkboard which opened up a dark path to a room past the classroom. There were wooden things that looked like they would keep somebody's head in place._

_When the guards took all of them into the room, the teacher slid the secret entrance closed, and then began to speak to the other students, but Cain couldn't hear anything he said._

_There was a man in a completely different Vault jumpsuit already there, waiting for them, holding a cleaver. The jumpsuit was black and the number on it was red._

"_Oh? Six? I was expecting only a few." The Executioner said. The guards put the children in the position, and locked their heads in place. Cain tried to break free but the guard who had him quickly stopped him, and succeeded in locking his head into place._

"_Wait! I was putting C because most of his tests the answer is usually C! I am not a rebel! Please...don't kill me..." The kid who had put all C's cried._

"_Cheating is breaking the rules, and breaking the rules is rebelling. Or, you simply lied when you took the test, or you're simply lying now. Doesn't matter which though." The Executioner said, right before he slammed the cleaver down, and Cain heard the screams of the other children, but he couldn't see it as he was the last one, and behind the rest of the children. One by one he the Executioner did the same thing to the rest of the children, and when he chopped the head off of the one before Cain, he saw what happened to the rest. All of the bodies were headless, and their heads were rolling on the floor._

"_Now, time for you, masky. I always hate the masked ones, the physical deformities freak me out." The Executioner said._

"_And injuries, scars, and burns." One of the guards said._

"_Though, you can't help but feel curious about what's behind the mask." The Executioner said._

"_He's not going anywhere, and he seems like a mute anyways, as he didn't scream when you killed any of the other ones, so just pull his mask off if you want to see that badly." The second guard said._

"_Fine, I will." The Executioner said, pulling off Cain's mask suddenly. "Holy mother of God! I have seen...a lot in my profession, but god damn!" The Executioner screamed._

"_He's a monster! A goddamned monster!" The third guard also screamed. Cain began to growl, and the constraints began to be loosened as Cain put more and more force into it, and Cain was freed. Cain leaped up and literally clawed the executioner's eyes out._

"_Jesus Christ!" The first guard screamed as he scrambled and tried to shoot his pistol at Cain. Cain smacked the pistol out of his hands, and grabbed the Executioner's cleaver, which had fell near the heads of the children. Cain slashed the legs of the other two guards, and brutally killed them. The remaining guard's fear had toppled him entirely, as he even fell because of it. The guard was shaking in absolute fear, and was trying to crawl away._

_Cain however was shaking, no, seething with anger, his hands covered in the blood of the Executioner, and his jumpsuit covered in the blood of the two guards. Cain repeatedly looked at the beheaded children, and back at the guard._

"_Please..."_

_Horrifying screams came from the child execution room, then remasked Cain emerged from the pathway back into the room, which the teacher opened up, expecting for the guards to come out, not blood drenched Cain._

"_Oh my God..." The teacher said, staring down at Cain. Cain was holding the heads of the Executioner and one of the guards._

"_Here teacher." Cain growled, throwing both of the heads onto the teacher's desk._

"_Gu...Gu...GUARDS! GUARDS!" The teacher screamed, panicking._

"_No need for that." A voice came from the entrance of the classroom._

"_Overseer!" The teacher said, suddenly stopping his pleas for help. "He—he killed the Executioner, killed the guards, and threw two of their heads onto my desk!" The teacher said, wishing for help from the Overseer. Suddenly, the Overseer launched a knife at the teacher, which hit his right arm._

"_Fool! Those guards in there were expendable, and so was the executioner! Why, I just found the perfect replacement for the Executioner, anyways!" The Overseer said, enthusiastically._

"_But sir...he got five out of ten questions as C's..." The teacher said, in pain due to the knife wound._

"_So? He is being taken under my wing, as I understand he is also one of the poor orphans of our Vault. With the murderer loose, who killed our most famous and generous Doctor, just today, in fact, he needs a safe home. What other more safe home is my home? It's a pity that I can't say my full home is as safe, which is the Vault...but I will deal with that eventually. And surely, you are not losing faith in me, are you? I can teach him how to redeem himself. A wise man said, who is more ignorant? The idiot penniless hobo who truly believes in his favored God, deity, or what have you...is he, more ignorant than the preacher, who is rich, and is sitting in his chapel, yawning at the sermons that he doesn't believe in, that he spews from his mouth?" The Overseer said._

"_Both, as God does not exist in any seen form, record, or proof. But mankind, that obviously exists, and who do you think the God of mankind is if there is nothing else but this Vault of ours? The leader, is me. If you do not believe in me, then you do not believe in mankind. If you do not believe in mankind, then you do not believe in yourself. That, is your real lesson of the day, children. Now, goodbye. Now...what number is he?" The Overseer asked the teacher._

"_Thirteen of the new generation." The teacher answered._

"_Now, Thirteen. Come." The Overseer spoke to the blood covered Cain._

_Cain almost trembled at the words, but he had no other option. Cain followed the Overseer, the same man he had watched kill his father._

_When they got out of the classroom, the Overseer turned around._

"_What is your non Vault-Tec name? As I know many have them, as they prefer those over the numbers." The Overseer asked._

_Cain hesitated, and was about to say it, but it was either the fear of the Overseer, or the fact Cain had brutally killed four people not even a few minutes ago...plus, the other thing...earlier._

"_Now, now, now...no need to be so nervous. I am a friend." The Overseer said, reassured._

"_Cain." Cain said._

"_A nice name...what made you kill in there?" The Overseer asked._

"_They...took my mask away, called me a member. Plus, I saw the other children and I...I just lost control." Cain said._

"_Kill him, he deserves to die Cain." A voice whispered inside Cain's head, but Cain ignored it._

"_I can keep you safe Cain, fed, give you a stable home...as long as you agree to be my Main Executioner, and agree to be it for your lifetime long Vault occupation." The Overseer said._

_Several thoughts ran around in Cain's head at once. He wanted to find his sister, but he had lost her ever since the events that had transpired a few days before. Cain wanted to make sure that she was safe, and no doubt wouldn't be able to do that if he became the Main Executioner. Another thought was that he absolutely hated the Overseer, and wanted nothing to do with the guy. But then, he realized a more important fact..._

_...He had no choice._

"_Fi...fine..." Cain said._

"_Good." The Overseer smiled._

* * *

Cain grabbed and put the dead sister over his shoulder, and scooped up the brother in his arms, and left the room.

_**End of Torment III: First Day of School**_

* * *

**That's the last one. Cain's past just gets more fucked up with each Torment chapter. Adios, and I don't know when I'll be back with a new chapter, but I do have...15 more pages left, so hey.**

**~TGG333**


	33. Day 500: The Rest

**Day 500: The Rest**

"Light, darkness. Sun, moon. Grasslands, wasteland."

"Where...where am I?"

"Honesty, lies. Love, deceit. Joy, misery."

"What...why am I feeling pain?"

"Pain, enjoyment. Blindness, visibility!"

Out of nowhere, the blindfold was removed, and the man saw a blood covered dark room, and an overweight man staring, in a chef suit holding a dripping cleaver. On the wall, human limbs were hung up as if they were trophies. Some were decomposing, some were down to the bone, and some were still bleeding.

"Oh my God, where are my legs?" Jacob screamed, looking down to only see nubs where his legs were.

"Trophies, pride." The...chef? said.

"You hung them up? What the hell you asshole! Let me...actually, I can't really even go anywhere if you do let me go." Jacob said, depressed.

"Escape, impossible." The chef babbled further.

"Where am I? Quit speaking like that!" Jacob yelled again.

"Mansion, paradise." The chef answered.

"Mansion? Wait...I was walking and then...OH SHIT!" Jacob exclaimed, remembering something.

"Worry, bad. Sleep, good."

"No! Let me...give me a wheelchair and then let me go! God damn it...my caravan...fuck." Jacob worried.

"Caravan, gone. Gone, ours." He smiled.

"Ours? There's more of you sadistic fucks!" Jacob yelled.

"Shh...be silent. Nobody likes a loud and rude meal, now do they?" He asked. "The Butcherer will bring you to dinner, as the Butcherer has always done, since beginning of time of living here." The Butcherer said.

"The Butcherer...meal...dinner. Gee, I wonder what's going to happen next? So, what's for dinner, horribly named cliche? Or are you going to double cliche me and say I'm for dinner? Because I wouldn't be able to take you seriously, even though you chopped my legs off." Jacob said.

"Humor devalues the meal. Have silence, so you can be chewy." The Butcherer said, grabbing Jacob by the arms.

"Oh, sure, just hand me the pepper and salt while I'm at it." Jacob said, as he was dragged across the disgusting blood covered metal floor, towards the door. The Butcherer opened the door, and revealed the outside. The Butcherer dropped Jacob to the outside of the shack.

"Pups! Feeding time..." The Butcherer laughed. Jacob saw several angry, feral mutts that were chained towards where he was being dragged to.

"You're shitting me..." Jacob cried, not wanting to be eaten alive.

"No...THEY'LL be shitting you!" The Butcherer laughed maniacly.

"Oh, I get it...you're just the fat guy who just spews cliches and murders people." Jacob said, as several of the hounds ran to Jacob now that he was in reach. Jacob screamed and screamed as the hounds ripped him open with their teeth...

* * *

"God! God! Please save me..." A woman cried, covered in blood and surrounded with still dripping corpses. She refused to look up at the culprit, she just wanted to go away from this place.

"Why do you want help? This is paradise, don't you see!"

"No...I just...I just want to leave...leave this place, this entire state..." She cried.

"But we've tried to make you comfortable!"

"Leave...having a nightmare...going to wake up anytime..." She further cried.

"This is going to anger my brother, you know."

"Leave...have to leave..." She wouldn't stop repeating.

"Brother! She doesn't like us! She thinks you're a monster! A freak, even though you couldn't help what happened to you that made you like this."

Rather loud growling was suddenly heard, but she still didn't dare look up. She then felt immense pain that forced her to scream horribly. She saw a skinless face before she was brutally ripped apart.

"Good job, Jimmy boy! We don't have to take insults from whores! Plus, we have now decorations!"

* * *

"Jesus save you! Jesus save you all!" The religious prisoner cried, locked away in a room illuminated with candlelight, and the walls had many blood red crosses painted on it. Suddenly a man burst through the door, wearing a stained with blood white robe.

"Jesus is here to save you." The crazy looking man said.

"You aren't Jesus...you're the asshole who put me here!" The religious prisoner yelled, pulling on his chains.

"Oh? I'm not Jesus? Then who is he? Where are you, Jesus? I know where. He doesn't exist. You do not know what I know. I've tapped into the farthest corners of my mind and unlocked my complete potential. I am God." The man laughed.

"You're insane. No man can be perfect, or God." The religious prisoner cried.

"Can't they? We all live numerous lives, have numerous roles, but at the end of each life, we all move up another level. I call them Godlevels. I must be very high up, as my life is perfect." The man said.

"Please God, strike this blasphemer down!" The religious prisoner cried.

"Oh? I...I don't see any lightning or hear any responses. Maybe your God and Jesus do exist? Maybe they've just forsaken you? I suppose your blood may be the right shade of red I've been wanting for a while." The Heretic laughed.

"What?" The prisoner exclaimed.

"The crosses, you see. Each one represents another one of you. I don't like the red though. One day, I'll get the right blood. Might be today!" The Heretic suddenly slashed the prisoner's neck. He got some of the still warm and flowing blood on his right hand, and painted a new cross on the wall.

"Nope...too dark. Damn it."

* * *

"Fuck...damn deathclaw..." The injured wastelander cried, limping up the road towards the mansion. He didn't realize a sniper that had an eagle's eye holding a sniper rifle had his sights on him. A bullet soared through the air and landed in the injured wastelander's right shoulder. The wastelander fell to the ground, totally unexpecting the sniper.

"Damn it, I'm off today." The Sniper grumbled.

"Please! Don't!" The wastelander pleaded, scrambling to get up.

"No dice, prey." The Sniper yelled, leaning forward from his lawn chair on the roof of the mansion, shooting him right between the eyes. "Another one down, another day gone..." The Old Sniper said, putting the rifle back at his side.

_**End of Day 500: The Rest**_

* * *

**Remember that Dante's Inferno chapter I made a while back? It came back in this chapter. As, gluttony, violence, anger, heresy, and fraud make an appearance in this. Lust was the Mistress, obviously, and Limbo was the android Doctor, as he was a gatekeeper, of sorts, for the first floor of the mansion. Who is Treachery?**

**Oh who knows...could be obvious, you could possibly not guess. Anyways, adios.**

**~TGG333**


	34. Day 501: The Truth?

**Day 501: The Truth?**

Hank stopped looking at the sorrowful statue, and was about to walk away until Edward said something.

"Listen." Edward said, pushing a button on a pip-boy that he was holding, playing a holotape.

* * *

_"Ca...Cain?"_

_"Sister."_

_"You're covered in blood...oh God, Cain. What have they made you into?"_

_"Do you remember that night? Where you threw away all I gave you, threw it right into my face?"_

_"Cain, I...didn't want any of this while you're killing people...you're a slave, Cain."_

_"Don't fucking call me that! Call me what you called me that night, when you ripped any piece of life remaining in my body to pieces, threw my soul into the trash!"_

_"I didn't mean to call you that but seeing you kill all those people..."_

_"You said your brother was dead! That I was nothing more than a fucking monster! That I should burn in hell! Now you're here trying to apologize? Trying to get me to feel sympathy for you? But guess what? Monsters don't know what that is, or empathy, or whatever the fuck it is. So what now? Does the monster develop a human side? No, I already had one, but you killed him. He had survived torture, murdering people, insanity...I clawed at his sides for so long, but he continued on until his sister called him a monster, then he stopped in the middle of a battlefield, just like a bleeding injured soldie that couldn't go on anymore."_

_"I'm sorry...he has to still be in there...Cain!"_

_"Nope, he's sleeping! Allowed me to be free! He killed for you, not liking it, but he would do anything for you. But me? I love it! Let the blood flow, slice through meat, they will all beat, I'll tie the spine into a pretty nice bow! Oh, why are you crying? Are you sad that your brother doesn't care about you anymore? Come on, get off the floor! Oh I understand, you are frightened by me too!"_

_"Leave me alone!"_

_"You don't lov me anymore, sis? This is your brother speaking! Or is this just the monster simply tricking? Who knows? I can barely tell who is who as long as the blood blows. Why do I rhyme? I don't even know as the rage building in me says it's time. The bell has rung, the monster in Cain has sung. Your end is near, YOU NO LONGER NEED TO FEEL FEAR!"_

_Screams went on in the holotape for a minute, along with sounds of someone horribly dismembering someone else._

_"Oh God...what have you...what have I done, why?"_

_"Aren't you pleased with me, Cain? I let you back out to see her!"_

_"You fucking murdered her, you asshole. My sister is dead, now I have nothing...all I wanted was my sister, but now that you killed her all I want is for you to disappear and my memories to fade."_

_"I can't disappear, I'm a part of you Cain, hell, now I AM you. I could take over the whole damned thing forever if I wanted to!"_

_"If you are what I am, then I don't want to be me."_

* * *

The holotape stopped playing.

"...Why did you have me listen to that?" Hank asked.

"To reveal to you what Cain does not remember, what he has forgotten. I suggest you to not tell him anything about it yet. The Monster will fully awaken if he remembers it, and overtake the Brother, which you know as Cain. See, they were split from each other until Cain left the Vault. Victor did something to him, gave him what he wanted for his soul. The personalities merged, and Cain was whole again, but obviously, under Victor's control." Edward said.

"How do I get him out of Victor's control?" Hank asked.

"You probably have to find something that incriminates Victor, and something concrete. But keep in mind if it's related to his sister and you show him it too early, then the Monster will awaken.

"Maybe...this statue..." Hank said.

"...He is knocking. The Monster inside, he is enraged yet again, Cain is yelping in pain." Edward randomly said. Hank hadn't realized outside of this chamber was an enraged Cain, who had been noticed by Edward first.

"Cain!" Hank said, alerted now.

"Jesus loves all the little children..." Cain sung as he stepped into the chamber, fully in view.

It was possibly quite easily the most horrifying experience Hank has had in this place. Cain had a lifeless girl slung over his shoulder, and a boy in his arms.

"All the little children of the world..." Cain sounded as if he was almost crying. "Brother and sister, torn apart...God doesn't want people to be together, or to feel any type of happiness. My soul, nonexistant, but yet, I feel something pulling on me, crying, wanting me to remember, but I push her away, we will play another day, little familar angel, but why are you crying? Is it me? My face? But when I try to go away, you persist? Why? Why do you haunt me? I apologize for whatever I did, but I don't remember, and I don't want to! So leave me alone! Go away! The sight of you is comforting at first, but then anger appears, and then finally regret, not to mention everytime I see you, I see pieces of a puzzle appear in my head that seem familar as if they're of my previous life, but I don't want to solve it! So leave me the fuck alone! I already burn in hell, just let me smolder, then my ashes will be sweeped up, broken down, reburned again and again until time ends..." Cain ranted as he walked towards the angel statue.

He seemed as if he didn't care about Hank or Edward. He simply continued walking towards the statue, carrying the bodies. Cain placed the boy and the girl together sitting in front of the statue.

"Oh, rest in pace, symbol of the past which I am too much of a coward to face. May your fate be better than mine. And you..." Cain looked up at the sorrowful statue. "I see you...this chamber every day. Why? I feel pain but at the same time, peace. Everytime, I see you, I can't look away. Is it these chains that bind you? I have a key, but there are several locks..." Cain said.

Hank wanted to say something but he knew better and didn't, and simply watched and waited for any type of acknoweledgement at all, which he got after a second or so.

"Hank. Let us leave this place...the longer the stay, the more I feel...as if I'm in pieces." Cain commanded. Hank looked back at Edward, who was still standing there. Didn't Cain see him? He was in plain sight, so why didn't Cain acknoweledge him? Or did he have an unspoken alliance with Cain as how Hank ha? Hank followed Cain out of the chamber, leaving Edward behind.

"They found her dead this morning." Cain suddenly said.

"Who?" Hank asked.

"Who do you think? The same person I put you down here to protect! Some guy went out of control and stabbed her to death, screaming about his son or daughter or something. I was going to paint the wall with him but I could only injure him until he fled somewhere into the mansion...the entrances are all locked, and I figured he might have possibly found the Vault entrance...not to mention, I had to...lay those two back there to rest here. I still take them to where all of the other fallen go, but brothers and sisters...for whatever reason I bring them to that place so they can remain together in peace for a little while." Cain said.

"The guy who was in my cell did it?" Hank asked, trying to change the subject now that he actually knew that Cain killed his own sister.

"No, but I know there's something down here. Did she...have a key on her?" Hank asked, cautious of Cain in his current state.

"Yes, Victor took it..." Cain said. "Argh...not now..." Cain said as he suddenly stopped.

"What?" Hank said, curious.

"Make your own way back!" Cain screamed in pain as he suddenly ran through the halls, leaving Hank behind.

_"Where you running to Cain? You can't leave me behind and you knooooow it! Hahahaha!"_

"Shut up...go away..." Cain muttered as he ran away.

Hank shrugged and began to make his way out of the Vault and when he reached the experiment section, the Minotaurs and Bob the Gigantic Radroach were dead.

Cain remianed in the Vault however and wound up in the clinic. He stared at himself in the mirror and saw a familiar face over his shoulder.

_**End of Day 501: The Truth?**_

* * *

**Been a LONG while since I updated any of my fanfiction, so I said hey, why the fuck not and typed out this chapter. I apologize for any mistakes in spelling as I didn't have time to spell check it, and because of typing writing that I did months ago, there's bound to be a lot of mistakes probably.**

**Anyways, more about Cain's past, the Mistress is now dead and the Desperate Father is loose and fully batshit insane, and Cain is about to have another painful flashback.**

**Fucking personal character flashbacks...they're the bane of my existence. Anyways, I don't know if there's still a lot of people reading this, but as always, read and review, and adios.**

**~TGG333**


End file.
